Collegium sends out recommendation for appointment to 5 HC

Collegium sends out recommendation for appointment to 5 HC

Subject: Polity

Context: The Supreme Court Collegium recommended names for appointment as judges in Bombay, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Guwahati and Manipur High Courts.

Appointment of HC Judges:

• Article 217 of the Constitution states that the Judge of a High Court shall be appointed by the President in consultation with the Chief Justice of India (CJI), the Governor of the State.
• In the case of appointment of a Judge other than the Chief Justice, the Chief Justice of the High Court is consulted.

Consultation Process:

• High Court judges are recommended by a Collegium comprising the CJI and two senior-most judges.
• The proposal, however, is initiated by the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned in consultation with two senior-most colleagues.
• The recommendation is sent to the Chief Minister, who advises the Governor to send the proposal to the Union Law Minister.
• The Chief Justice of the High Court is appointed as per the policy of having Chief Justices from outside the respective States.
• The Collegium takes the call on the elevation.

Collegium System:

• It is the system of appointment and transfer of judges that has evolved through judgments of the SC, and not by an Act of Parliament or by a provision of the Constitution.

Evolution of the System:

• First Judges Case (1981):
  • It declared that the “primacy” of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) recommendation on judicial appointments and transfers can be refused for “cogent reasons.”
  • The ruling gave the Executive primacy over the Judiciary in judicial appointments for the next 12 years.
• Second Judges Case (1993):
  • SC introduced the Collegium system, holding that “consultation” really meant “concurrence”.
  • It added that it was not the CJI’s individual opinion, but an institutional opinion formed in consultation with the two senior-most judges in the SC.
• Third Judges Case (1998):
  • SC on President’s reference expanded the Collegium to a five-member body, comprising the CJI and four of his senior-most colleagues (for example for the transfer of HC judges).