'Judges Themselves Appointing Judges' A Widely Propagated Myth; Judiciary Merely One Of The Players In Appointment Process : CJI Ramana

Seemingly responding to the criticisms against the collegium system, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana said at a public event that judiciary is only one of the several players involved in the process of judicial appointments and that "judges are themselves appointing judges" is a widely propagated myth.

"It is nowadays fashionable to reiterate phrases such as, "judges are themselves appointing judges". I consider this to be one of the widely propagated myths", CJI Ramana said.

Speaking at the fifth late Sri Lavu Venkateswarlu Endowment Lecture on the topic, 'Indian Judiciary - Challenges of future' at Vijayawada, the CJI added :

"The fact is the Judiciary is merely one of the many players involved in the process. Many authorities are involved including the Union Law Ministry, State Governments, Governor, High Court Collegia, Intelligence Bureau, and lastly, the topmost executive, who all are designated to examine the suitability of a candidate".

The Chief Justice of India said he was "sad to note that the well-informed also propagate the aforesaid notion".  "After all, this narrative suits certain sections", he said.

It may be noted that during the recent winter session there were intense debates in both the houses of the Parliament regarding judicial appointments, with several members voicing strong criticism about the colleigum system and making a call for the reintroduction of an NJAC-like system(detailed reports here and here).

The CJI's comments assume relevance in this context.

Concerns expressed about non-filling of vacancies

The CJI also raised alarm at the rising number of unfilled vacancies in courts and tribunals.

"The appointment of judges is a continuous process. After being elevated as the Chief Justice of India, I have focussed on increasing judicial appointments. I appreciate the Government's effort in appointing several judges in recent times.

However, some recommendations made by High Courts are yet to be transmitted to the Supreme Court by the Union Law Ministry. It is expected that the Government needs to strictly adhere to the timelines laid down in the Malik Mazhar Case.

High Courts must also accelerate the process of making recommendations to fill vacancies. I am constantly persuading Chief Justices of various High Courts to take up this issue. My desire is to witness a near-zero vacancy", he said.

Growing tendency of executive to disregard orders passed by the Court

CJI Ramana also raised concerns about the "growing tendency to disregard, and even disrespect Court orders by the executive". He made it clear that "a popular majority is not a defence for arbitrary actions taken by a Government".

"It is a well-known fact that a popular majority is not a defence for arbitrary actions taken by a Government. Every action is mandatorily required to comply with the Constitution. If the judiciary does not have the power of judicial review, then the functioning of democracy in this country would be unthinkable", he said.

"The concept of separation of powers cannot be utilised to restrict the scope of judicial review. This concept only protects bona fide legitimate actions. It is required that the legislative and executive wings recognise their limits under the Constitution to ensure the smooth working of the democracy".

"The power of judicial review is often sought to be branded as Judicial overreach. Such generalisations are misguided. The Constitution created three co-equal organs, namely the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. It is in this context that the judiciary has been given the role of reviewing the legality of steps taken by the other two organs", he added.

New and Persistent Challenges faced by the Judiciary

CJI also stressed the importance of improving the service conditions of the judges to "attract the best talent". He spoke about the "future" and "persistent challenges" faced by the judiciary.  He listed the following as the future challenges faced by the judiciary.

• Need for Domain Expertise
• Absence of Well-Considered Legislation
• Non-Cooperative Executive
• Dysfunctional Criminal Justice System
• New Threats to the Judiciary(physical attacks and organized slander campaigns in social media)
  
• Increasing Judicial Resilience

As  "persistent challenges" the CJI listed the following :

• Improving Judicial Infrastructure
• Filling Judicial Vacancies
• Ever Increasing caseloads

Click here to read/download the full text of the CJI's speech