Justice Ujjal Bhuyan calls for transparency in appointments

Criticising the collegium for not giving reasons for judicial appointments, Supreme Court judge Ujjal Bhuyan on Saturday said that failure to do so allows space for judges who make unconstitutional remarks like describing “groups of people as ants”.

“I have noticed that the last three collegium resolutions contain no reasons whatsoever. Is this a step back from the principle of transparency?” Justice Bhuyan said.

Speaking at a panel discussion at the launch of a report by legal think-tank Vidhi’s JALDI initiative, Justice Bhuyan stressed that not disclosing reasons for elevation allows undesirable candidates to enter the judiciary. “By not giving reasons, the institution actually does a disservice to many judges who are genuinely outstanding and have done tremendous work.

“Conversely, by withholding reasons, we also create space for individuals to enter the judiciary who may later describe groups of people as ‘ants’ and make other remarks that are wholly unconstitutional and contrary to the values of the Constitution,” Justice Bhuyan said. To prevent entry of such people, “there should be some discussion, there should be some reasons given”, he said. Justice Bhuyan said that recently a high court judge had made such remarks.

Though Bhuyan did not name any individual, a former Allahabad High Court judge had sparked a furore with his remarks at a VHP event in 2024, with opposition leaders calling for action against him for his “hate speech”. Justice Bhuyan said the last three statements of the Supreme Court collegium did not contain any reason at all for recommending elevation of judges.

“Some may even say they were somewhat formulaic or copy-paste in nature. But at least some reasons were given to justify the recommendations,” he said.

“In our country, we are taught not to harm even the smallest animals, not to kill ants, and this lesson is ingrained in us. Perhaps that is why we are tolerant and compassionate; we feel pain when others suffer. But in your culture, from a young age, children are exposed to the slaughter of animals. How can you expect them to be tolerant and compassionate?” the HC judge had said.

In recent months, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant sparked a controversy by describing certain people as “cockroaches”, which spawned an online movement, Cockroch Janta Party, that spearheaded the agitation on the NEET paper leak issue.

While referring to criticism of collegium system, the CJI had in the past said that when the collegium recommends the names for elevation to the apex court, various factors, including the performance, length of service already rendered as judges, position they have held in the past and even their professional life are kept in consideration.