What Is SC’s Collegium System And Why Centre Is In Tussle With Judges Over Judicial Appointments

THE COLLEGIUM system, which is a process to appoint the Supreme Court and High Court judges, has been dominating the national headlines since Union Law Minister Kirej Rijju criticized it, saying that it is not opaque, and many judges believe the same. However, he said that he will have to deal with it until the government comes up with an alternative mechanism.

What is the College System?

The Collegium System is a process by which the judges in the Supreme Court and High Courts are appointed and transferred. It is a process that has not evolved out of the Indian Constitution or by a law promulgated by the Parliament; it has evolved through the judgments of the Supreme Court that are called “Judges cases”.

The Three Judges’ Case

In the first judges’ case, SP Gupta vs. Union of India in 1981, the judges suggested that the executive must have the biggest say in the appointment of judges.

In the second judges’ case, between Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association vs. Union of India, in 1993, a nine-judge bench said that the Chief Justice of India must be given priority in the appointments.

The same thing was reiterated in the third judge case, and since then the judges have been appointed by the collegium system.

How are the judges chosen?

The Collegium is a group headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI), along with the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court. This group decides the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary and also the transfers of judges.

There is also a collegium in the High Court, which is headed by the incumbent Chief Justice of that High Court and two other seniormost judges of the court.

In the higher judiciary, judges are appointed only by the collegium system, and the government has a role only after the names are recommended and approved by the CJI and the Supreme Court collegium. In this entire process, the role of the government is limited to conducting an inquiry in case a person is elevated from a lawyer to a judge in the High Court or Supreme Court. However, the government can also object to the choice of the collegium and seek clarification regarding it, but if the collegium recommends the same names, the government is bound to appoint them.

What do critics say?

The collegium system has been widely opposed in recent years over the appointment of Supreme Court and High Court judges. Meanwhile, the Center has also criticized it for not being “transparent” and has also blamed it for the high number of vacancies in the higher judiciary. It has also been accused of favoritism and of preventing people from lower castes from becoming judges in the higher judiciary.

Meanwhile, the top court has noted that this system is the most transparent for the appointment and transfer of judges. Former Chief Justice of India UU Lalit has stated that this system is perfect and should be maintained until the government decides not to reinstate the National Judicial Appointment Commission, which was established in 2014 but was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.