Judiciary and Its Collegium System
We need a more transparently and effi ciently appointed, diverse set of judges.
The current back and forth between the union government and the judiciary over judicial appointments is welcome. For too long, the union government ran roughshod over the appointments process with little to no protest from the collegium or the rest of the judiciary. It “segregated” nominees for appointment, returned reiterated nominees, or simply refused to make appointments until nominees quit on their own out of frustration. All of this was quite contrary to the Memorandum of Procedure set out consequent to the Third Judges’ case. More than the union government’s intransigence on the matter, it was the collegium’s acquiescence that was worrying. Successive chief justices even as the union government subverted the collegium process, turning it into a “search and selection committee” style system.
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About the Author
Alok Prasanna Kumar is Co-Founder and Lead, Vidhi Karnataka. His areas of research include judicial reforms, Constitutional law, urban development, and law and technology. He graduated with a B.A. LL.B. (Hons) from the NALSAR University in 2008 and obtained the BCL from the University of Oxford in 2009. He writes a monthly column for the Economic and Political Weekly and has published in the Indian Journal of Constitutional Law and National Law School of India Review apart from media outlets such as The Hindu, Indian Express, Scroll, Quint and Caravan. He has practiced in the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court from the chambers of Mr Mohan Parasaran, and currently also co-hosts the Ganatantra podcast on IVM Podcasts.