Radhika Roy, the former associate editor with Live Law, recently had a meltdown on Twitter after Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju continued his relentless attack against the collegium system for the appointment of judges in the Supreme Court and high courts.
“These speeches by Kiren Rijiju are unbecoming of the Law Minister of the country. He sounds like a sympathy-seeking jilted lover being scorned by the Supreme Court,” Roy tweeted.
Roy’s vituperation came in the wake of Rijiju’s acerbic comment against the Collegium system, which he said was “opaque” and reflected the thoughts of lawyers and judges.
“No system can be 100% perfect. But we need to strive for a better system. When Parliament passed the National Judicial Commission Act in 2015, the SC struck it down. They should have told us which system would be better,” Rijiju said.
Speaking at the India Today Conclave this week, Rijiju said he was not satisfied with the collegium system, adding that a majority of judges agreed with him.
Minister of Law and Justice @KirenRijiju shares his views on “India@100: Reforming India’s judicial system” at #ConclaveMumbai22. | #ITLivestream #KirenRijiju https://t.co/imiRFjkIet
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) November 4, 2022
“Judges are not happy with the collegium system today. The high court collegium comprises the Chief Justice of India and two senior-most judges who decide [on the appointment of judges]. For the Supreme Court, there are five members,” he explained.
Highlighting flaws in the system, Rijiju said the Collegium system by design would lead to the appointment of judges that are known to the consultee judge. “A consultee judge will recommend only those whom he knows. They won’t recommend someone they don’t know even if s/he is qualified and fit enough to be a judge of the SC or HC,” he said.
The Union Law Minister further added that he is opposed to this selection from private circles. “The fittest of the candidates should be elevated as judges; not the person whom the consultees know,” he said.
Even so, this is not the first time that Kiren Rijiju has spoken his heart out on his views on the Collegium system. He has persistently criticised the system he says is not transparent.
Earlier in October 2022, Rijiju had said that judges spend half their time spent in deciding who to appoint as judges instead of delivering justice, as he termed the collegium system “opaque” and described the Indian selection system as the only one where judges appoint judges.
“The primary task of a judge is to deliver justice to the people. What I see as a law minister (is that) half the time of the judges is spent on deciding who would become the next judge rather than giving justice,” Rijiju had said.
