Centre wants to restructure judges’ collegium system; Union Law Minister writes to CJI

New Delhi [India], January 16 (ANI): Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju has written to the Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud stating that he is not satisfied with the Collegium system of appointing judges while backing the reintroduction of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) for choosing judges. While speaking to ANI on Monday, Rijiju said, “It is just a follow-up action of the letters written earlier to CJI following the direction of the Supreme Court Constitution Bench while striking down the National Judicial Appointment Commission Act.

The SC Constitution Bench had directed to restructure the MoP of the collegium system.”

The law minister also took to Twitter earlier today to post, “The contents in the letter to hon’ble CJI are exactly in conformity with the observations and directions of the Supreme Court Constitution Bench. Convenient politics is not advisable, especially in the name of Judiciary. Constitution of India is supreme and nobody is above it.”
Rijiju’s letter to the CJI pitched for the inclusion of government representatives in the Supreme Court.

According to the Centre, this will infuse transparency and accountability to the public in the court’s decision-making process with respect to the appointment of judges.

The Supreme Court Constitution Bench had directed the restructuring of the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) of the collegium system.

The MoP is a document that sets out the procedure for the appointment of judges to High Courts and the Supreme Court.

Under the present Collegium system, the Chief Justice of India along with four senior-most Supreme Court judges recommend the appointments and transfers of judges. Chief Justice Chandrachud and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, KM Joseph, MR Shah, Ajay Rastogi and Sanjiv Khanna are among the current collegium of the Supreme Court.