Govt can seek rethink on collegium recommendations

Subject : Polity

Section :Judiciary

Concept :

Asserting that the Union government can seek a reconsideration of the names recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium (SCC), Law Minister Kiren Rijiju informed the Rajya Sabha that there are 18 such cases.

Collegium system and the government role

It is the system of appointment and transfer of judges that has evolved through judgments of the Supreme Court, and not by an Act of Parliament or by a provision of the Constitution.
The Supreme Court collegium is headed by the Chief Justice of India and comprises four other seniormost judges of the court.
A High Court collegium is led by its Chief Justice and four other seniormost judges of that court.
Names recommended for appointment by a High Court collegium are appointed, only after approval by the CJI and the Supreme Court collegium.
According to the existing procedure, the High Court Collegiums send their proposals for the appointment of judges to the Law Ministry’s Justice Department, which then attaches Intelligence Bureau reports on the candidates and forwards the proposal to the Supreme Court Collegium to take a call.
Judges of the higher judiciary are appointed only through the collegium system — and the government has a role only after names have been decided by the collegium.
The government’s role is limited to getting an inquiry conducted by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) if a lawyer is to be elevated as a judge in a High Court or the Supreme Court.
It can also raise objections and seek clarifications regarding the collegium’s choices, but if the collegium reiterates the same names, the government is bound, under Constitution Bench judgments, to appoint them as judges.