'How Can Govt Nominee Be Part Of Collegium? People Making Comments Without Knowing Facts' : Law Minister Kiren Rijiju

Amidst confusion created by reports that the Centre has written to the CJI asking for its representatives to be placed in the collegium for selecting judges, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju has made a clarification.

The Minister denied that the Centre has sought for its representatives to be included in the collegium of the Supreme Court and the High Courts. In a tweet posted during the wee hours of January 17, he said :

"How can a govt's nominee be part of the collegium ? Some people make comment without knowing the facts! The Constitution Bench of hon'ble SC itself had asked to restructure the MoP. Search-cum-Evaluation committee is envisaged for preparation of panel of eligible candidates".

Yesterday, the Times of India reported that the Government, in a letter written to the Chief Justice of India, raised the demand for its representatives to be included in the collegium. This report generated a lot of concerns and debates. Later, the Hindustan Times reported that the Government's demand was to create a "search-cum-evaluation committee" with its representatives to prepare a panel of candidates from which the collegium can draw the names.

The Minister claimed that the letter was a follow-up of the letters written earlier to the CJI following the direction given by the Supreme Court in the NJAC seeking suggestions to restructure the Memorandum of Procedure(MoP) for judges appointments.

It is significant to note that the latest move by the Centre comes in the backdrop of the Supreme Court hearing in the Advocates Association of Bengaluru case, in which a bench led by Justice SK Kaul (second senior judge of the Supreme Court who is also a member of the collegium) made several critical remarks against the Law Ministry delaying the processing of collegium recommendations.

The bench had also stated during the hearing that the MoP sent by the Supreme Court in 2016 is final and that the Centre cannot act as if the MoP is not existing.

Also Read - As Government Seeks A Role In The Collegium’s Process Of Recommending Potential Judges, It May Dilute Judicial Primacy