The tussle between the Supreme Court and the Government over the appointment of judges intensified on Thursday with the apex court asserting that the collegium system is “law of land” and asking the Attorney General to advise the Union Ministers to desist from talking in public against the collegium system.
It comes a day after Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar termed the SC striking down the NJAC Act as “glaring instance” of “severe compromise” of Parliamentary sovereignty and disregard of the “mandate of the people”.
Meanwhile, in the Lok Sabha, TMC MP Saugata Roy alleged the Central Government is “using a high dignitary” to run down the collegium system of appointing Supreme Court and high court judges as it wants to extend its powers everywhere, including the judiciary.
Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul- headed bench told the Attorney General that the collegium system of appointment of judges is the law of the land and comments against it are “not well taken” and any law declared by it is “binding” on all stakeholders and the collegium system must be followed. The SC was hearing a matter relating to delay by the Centre in clearing the names recommended by the collegium for appointment as judges to constitutional courts.
Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju had on November 25 launched a fresh attack, saying the collegium system is “alien” to the Constitution. The bench, also comprising Justices AS Oka and Vikram Nath, said it expects the Attorney General to advise the Government so the legal principles laid down by the apex court are followed. The bench noted that 19 names recommended by the collegium were recently sent back by the Government. “How will this ping-pong battle settle?” the bench asked.
“Till the collegium system is there, till it is upheld, we have to enforce it. You want to bring another law, nobody stops you from bringing another law,” said Justice SK Kaul, telling the AG to advise Union Ministers, talking publicly against the collegium system.
The apex court said if a section of the society starts deciding which law to follow and which not to follow, then there will be a breakdown. “When you lay down a law, you expect the courts to enforce it unless the law is set aside,” the bench said. “We may at the end say only this that the scheme of the Constitution stipulates the court to be the final arbiter of the position of law. The power to enact a law is with the Parliament. However, that is subject to scrutiny by the courts,” it asserted. The bench said it is necessary that all follow the law that has been laid down.
“Any law declared by this court is binding on all stakeholders. That is the only signal I want to send,” Justice Kaul observed. The bench said what has “troubled” the court is that there were many names pending for months and years, including some which were reiterated by the collegium.
The petition filed by the Advocates’ Association Bengaluru, through lawyer Pai Amit, has raised the issue of “extraordinary delays” in the appointment of judges to the high courts as well as the segregation of the names, which is “detrimental to the cherished principle of the independence of the judiciary”. It has referred to 11 names which were recommended and later reiterated. In its order in April last year, the apex court had said the Centre should appoint judges within three-four weeks if the collegium reiterates its recommendations unanimously.
In the Lok Sabha, TMC MP Saugata Roy alleged that the Central Government is “using a high dignitary” to run down the collegium system of appointing Supreme Court and high court judges as it wants to extend its powers everywhere, including the judiciary. Speaking during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, Roy said the 99th Constitution amendment along with the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act was struck down by the top court and as a result the collegium system of appointing judges continued.
“I oppose the comments by the high authority and also by the law minister against the Supreme Court, against the collegium system. And we oppose all efforts to run down the independence of the judiciary which is one of the pillars of the Constitution which this government is trying to bring down,” Roy said. He said even though the collegium system is not perfect, the Trinamool Congress believes that it should continue as it is a “bigger guarantee against the tyranny of power by the central government”.
Roye alleged that Law Minister Kiren Rijiju has been “snapping” at the Supreme Court and at the collegium system. “We did not take him seriously because he is a talkative minister. But now a person in high office, who cannot be criticised except by a substantive motion, has come out criticising the striking down of the NJAC law. The Government is trying to extend its power everywhere, including into the Judiciary,” Roy said.
Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar, in his maiden speech in the upper house on Wednesday, criticised the judiciary for scrapping the NJAC law, terming it as an instance of “severe compromise of parliamentary sovereignty”, and said the three organs should respect the “Laxman Rekha”.
Roy said the Government is not finding the judiciary “pliable” hence it is using a high dignitary to run down the collegium system. Former Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who was in the House, demanded that Roy’s remarks be removed from the records. Rajendra Agrawal, who was chairing the proceedings, said the Chair will take a call. In another development, in a reply to two questions in the Rajya Sabha, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Government has no proposal to bring in a NJAC kind law again.