Government for system change to replenish judicial emptiness
3 min readExpress News Service
NEW DELHI: Union legislation minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday stored up his assault on the collegium system, blaming it for top judicial vacancies, saying the problem will hold cropping up till the process of appointment of judges is modified.
He additionally took a important view of the Supreme Court taking on all bail functions and “frivolous PILs”, claiming it should add to its burden, which drew sharp feedback from authorized eagles.
On the collegium system, he stated within the Rajya Sabha, “The government has no right to find new names for appointment of judges except the names that have been recommended by the collegium…. I have requested Supreme Court and high court judges to ensure that names of quality judges are sent, and that they include names of women and those belonging to various castes.”
The minister recalled that in 2015, Parliament handed the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act to reform the system to nominate judges. But the SC struck it down some months later.
Till September 9, the federal government had appointed 165 HC judges, the very best in a calendar yr to this point. “Government has recently referred back 20 names to Supreme Court Collegium recommended for appointment as High Court judges….Against 331 vacancies, at present, 147 proposals received from High Courts are at various stages of processing between the Government and the Supreme Court Collegium,” he stated.
Reacting to Rijiju’s touch upon bail functions, Congress MP Manish Tewari stated, “Obviously Law Minister Kiren Rijiju had other pressing preoccupations in Law School other than Law. He perhaps has never read Justice Krishna Iyer’s seminal treatise – bail not jail is the rule.” “Forget NJAC, Govt wants to micromanage judiciary: cut vacations, no priority to bail, et al. What next?” senior advocate Salman Khurshid puzzled.
Sibal poser
“Rijiju alleged said: Supreme Court must not take up bail pleas ….Does he even know the meaning of liberty?” senior advocate Kapil Sibal tweeted
NEW DELHI: Union legislation minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday stored up his assault on the collegium system, blaming it for top judicial vacancies, saying the problem will hold cropping up till the process of appointment of judges is modified.
He additionally took a important view of the Supreme Court taking on all bail functions and “frivolous PILs”, claiming it should add to its burden, which drew sharp feedback from authorized eagles.
On the collegium system, he stated within the Rajya Sabha, “The government has no right to find new names for appointment of judges except the names that have been recommended by the collegium…. I have requested Supreme Court and high court judges to ensure that names of quality judges are sent, and that they include names of women and those belonging to various castes.”
The minister recalled that in 2015, Parliament handed the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act to reform the system to nominate judges. But the SC struck it down some months later.
Till September 9, the federal government had appointed 165 HC judges, the very best in a calendar yr to this point. “Government has recently referred back 20 names to Supreme Court Collegium recommended for appointment as High Court judges….Against 331 vacancies, at present, 147 proposals received from High Courts are at various stages of processing between the Government and the Supreme Court Collegium,” he stated.
Reacting to Rijiju’s touch upon bail functions, Congress MP Manish Tewari stated, “Obviously Law Minister Kiren Rijiju had other pressing preoccupations in Law School other than Law. He perhaps has never read Justice Krishna Iyer’s seminal treatise – bail not jail is the rule.” “Forget NJAC, Govt wants to micromanage judiciary: cut vacations, no priority to bail, et al. What next?” senior advocate Salman Khurshid puzzled.
Sibal poser
“Rijiju alleged said: Supreme Court must not take up bail pleas ….Does he even know the meaning of liberty?” senior advocate Kapil Sibal tweeted
