'Collegium System Is The Law Of The Land, Must Be Followed' : Supreme Court Tells Centre; Asks AG To Advise Govt Of The Legal Position

The Supreme Court on Thursday told the Central Government that the collegium system is the "law of the land" which should be "followed to the T". Just because there are some sections of the society who express a view against the collegium system, it will not cease to the law of the land, the Court added.The Constitution Bench judgements which formulated the collegium system for judges' appointment must be adhered to, the bench told the Attorney General and the Solicitor General in no uncertain terms."There are sections in society who do not agree with the laws made by the Parliament. Should the Court stop enforcing such laws on that ground?", a bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul asked the Attorney General for India R Venkataramani."If every one is society decides which law to follow and which law to not follow, there would be a breakdown", Justice Kaul warned.The Attorney General said that there are two instances of the Supreme Court collegium itself dropping the reiterated names which were sent back by the Centre and this gave rise to a perception that the reiterations might not be conclusive. However, the bench retorted by saying that such isolated instances will not give the "government a license" to ignore the Constitution Bench judgment which clearly lay down that collegium reiterations are binding. When there is a judgment, there is no room for any other perception, the bench orally stated. In the order dictated after the hearing, the bench observed that it is not aware under what circumstances the collegium earlier dropped the two reiterated names.A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Abhay S Oka and Vikram Nath was hearing a contempt petition filed by Advocates Association of Bangalore against Centre breaching the time line for judicial appointments. A PIL filed by the NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation in 2018 regarding the same issue is also listed today.The AG said that he has had discussions with the Ministry following the concerns raised by the bench on the last occasion and sought for some more time to "fine-tune" the issues."Attorney you will have to do a little better...we need to find a way out. Why do you think we issued only a notice instead of a contempt notice? We want a solution.How do we sort out these issues? There is some kind of an infinite battle.", Justice Kaul said as the hearing of the day came to an end. The bench also noted today that the Centre recently send back 19 names, including 10 names reiterated by the collegium. The bench added that it would be for the Collegium to address that issue."We expect the Attorney General to play the role of the senior most law officer in advising the Government of the legal position and in ensuring that the legal position is followed. The scheme of the Constitution requires this Court to be final arbiter of the law. The power to enact the law is with the Parliament, but it is subject to the scrutiny by this Court. It is important that the law laid down by this Court is followed or else people would follow law which they think is correct", the bench dictated in the order.The Attorney General assured the bench that he will back after further consultations with the Government. The case will be heard again on January 6, 2023. Delay is deterring meritorious people from joining judiciaryThe bench reiterated its concern that the delay in appointments is deterring meritorious people from joining judiciary and it was a troublesome situation."In many cases Collegium has dropped some proposals....The Govt view is taken into account. After taking Govt's view and the collegium's view names are proposed, the Govt sends back the name, but when they are reiterated, you have to appoint, there is no other way", Justice Kaul told the AG."It is not that the time-line is not adhered in each case. But, what troubles us is that there were many cases pending for months and years and some were reiterated cases", Justice Kaul added.Some names are approved fast, some are kept pendingJustice Kaul also said that "sometimes the names are approved fast" and some others are kept pending for months. "How will this ping pong battle last?", Justice Kaul wondered. The judge pointed out that the selective approval given for names disturbs the seniority. "When collegium clears the name their are many factors in mind...You maintain a hierarchy as in how it should go. But if the hierarchy is disturbed....".Comments against collegium by government functionaries not well takenSenior Advocate Vikas Singh, the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, impliedly referring to the recent statements made by the Law Minister and the Vice President about the collegium system, said "People in Constitutional post are saying Supreme Court does not have judicial review. That is basic structure. It is a little upsetting"."Tomorrow people will say basic structure is also not a part of Constitution!", Justice Kaul responded."Mr. Singh is referring to speeches...which ...

'Collegium System Is The Law Of The Land, Must Be Followed' : Supreme Court Tells Centre; Asks AG To Advise Govt Of The Legal Position

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