The ongoing tussle between the judiciary and the Centre escalated further on Sunday with Law Minister Kiren Rijiju virtually endorsing the view of a retired Delhi High Court judge that the Supreme Court has "hijacked" the Constitution by deciding to appoint judges itself.
Rijiju shared the video of an interview of Justice RS Sodhi (Retd), a former judge of the Delhi High Court, saying it is the "voice of a judge" and that the majority of people have similar "sane views."
In the interview, Justice Sodhi said the right to frame laws lies with Parliament and not with the Supreme Court.
"...Only Parliament will amend Constitution. But here I feel the Supreme Court for the first time 'hijacked' the Constitution. After 'hijacking' they (the SC) said that we will appoint (judges) ourselves and the Government will have no role in it," Justice Sodhi said in Hindi. Backing Justice Sodhi's remarks, Rijiju tweeted: "Actually the majority of the people have similar sane views. It's only those people who disregard the provisions of the Constitution and mandate of the people think that they are above the Constitution of India." In another tweet, the Law Minister said: "Voice of a Judge….Real beauty of Indian Democracy is its success. People rule themselves through their representatives. Elected representatives represent the interests of the people & make laws. Our Judiciary is independent and our Constitution is Supreme."
Incidentally, on December 8, the apex court had objected to adverse comments made against the judiciary by Government functionaries.
Observing that comments made on the Supreme Court Collegium by Government functionaries are "not well taken", a Bench headed by Justice SK Kaul asked Attorney-General R Venkataramani to advise the Government about it. The court had said the Collegium system of appointment of judges is the law of the land and comments against it are "not well taken". The apex court also observed that any law declared by it is "binding" on all stakeholders and the Collegium system must be followed.
Rijiju's comments are the latest in an ongoing tussle between the Government and the Supreme Court Collegium over judicial appointments.
On January 19, the Supreme Court Collegium asserted its supremacy in appointment of judges and backed its earlier proposal to elevate five advocates to judges of High Courts. The Collegium summarily rejected the inputs provided against them by Intelligence agencies to the Centre.
Before that, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar launched a scathing attack on the judiciary on the issue of appointment of judges on January 12.
In an unprecedented attack on the judiciary by a senior constitutional functionary, the Vice- President asked the judges to refrain from "one-upmanship and public posturing" from judicial platforms and also frowned at the power allegedly usurped by the judiciary to review laws passed by Parliament.
Addressing the 83rd All India Presiding Officers Conference in Jaipur, Dhankar, who is the Rajya Sabha Chairman, said, "Today this one-upmanship and public posturing from judicial platforms are not good. These institutions must know how to conduct themselves."
The Vice-President also hit out at the judiciary for scrapping the NJAC Act and maintaining the supremacy of the Collegium in appointment of judges.
Three days later, a letter written by Rijiju to the Chief Justice of India got leaked to media in which the Law Minister sought Government representation in the Collegium.
The Law Minister pointed out that the finalisation of the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) for appointment of judges was still "pending", Rijiju suggested inclusion of a Government representative in the "search-cum-evaluation committee" that will provide inputs on "suitable candidates" to the appointment panel or the Collegium.
Then on January 19, the Supreme Court Collegium asserted its supremacy in appointment of judges and backed its earlier proposal to elevate five advocates to judges of High Courts. The Collegium summarily rejected the inputs provided against them by Intelligence agencies to the Centre.
The Collegium also uploaded on the SC's websites the objection raised by Intelligence agencies against the advocates picked up Collegium for elevation as judges.