In a recent development in the ongoing argument between the union government and the Supreme Court on the issue of appointment of judges, today law minister Kiren Rijiju again said that the system reforms from the current collegium system. On Thursday, 15th December 2022, Kiren Rijiju said in Rajya Sabha that the nation needs a new system to appoint judges. The law minister also commented on long vacations of the courts, saying that it hampers justice delivery.
He said that the huge pendency of cases in the Indian courts is linked to the vacant posts of judges. According to Kiren Rijiju, this problem won’t be remedied until a new system for appointments is developed.
Kiren Rijiju said, “There is a feeling among people of India that the long vacation which the courts obtain is not very convenient for justice-seekers and it is my obligation and duty to convey the message or sense of this House to the judiciary.”
A short video of my response to the questions in Rajya Sabha. pic.twitter.com/byB3r0XV8q
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) December 15, 2022
In response to a query on the number of court working days posed by Congress MP Rajeev Shukla in the Rajya Sabha, Rijiju stated that the country’s stockpile of cases was approaching 5 crores after reaching 4.90 crores. He added, “There are many reasons for this but the primary one is the appointment of judges and vacancies in the sanctioned strength.”
Kiren Rijiju said, “At this point, the government has very limited powers to reduce vacancies. I don’t want to comment much on the courts as it sometimes looks like the government is trying to interfere with the court’s powers. If you look at the provisions of the Constitution, the process of appointments was the right of the government with the consultation of the court. This changed after 1993. We are giving our support to end the pendency of cases, but till we don’t set up a new system for appointments, questions on the appointment of judges will keep being raised.”
Days prior to his comments in the House, Rijiju had called the Collegium system “opaque,” and the Vice-President had referred to the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision to invalidate the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act as a “severe compromise” of parliamentary authority and a disregard for the “mandate of the people.”
According to the Minister’s written response, as of December 12, 2022, the working strength of the Supreme Court, High Courts, district, and lower court was 19,192, whereas the sanctioned level was 25,011. From May 1, 2014, until December 5, 2022, he said, 46 judges have been appointed to the Supreme Court. According to the response, 59.56 lakh petitions were still waiting in High Courts as of December 1, 2022, while 69,598 matters were still pending in the Supreme Court according to the court’s own website.
Kiren Rijiju noted that although the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014, had been unanimously approved by Parliament, the Supreme Court had overturned it in 2015, and said that it was not a correct action by the court. He said that the Collegium system, which is now in place for appointing judges, did not adequately represent the views of the general people and the Parliament. Many former justices, including members of the Constitution Bench who overturned the NJAC, he said, have since made public statements arguing that it was improper to overturn a law enacted by Parliament.
The minister responded to a follow-up question from DMK MP Tiruchi Siva regarding the proportion of women, SC, ST, and OBC judges. Kiren Rijiju said, “There was no reservation policy, but the government had written to Chief Justices of High Courts to keep in mind disadvantaged groups while recommending names for appointment as judges. Until now, there had been just one judge from the ST community.”
With regard to holidays, the minister responded that the Supreme Court has 224, 217, and 202 working days in 2019, 2020, and 2021, respectively. Similar to this, there are typically 210 working days in a year for all High Courts.
In a follow-up query, BJP MP Sushil Modi asked the Minister whether the government will approach the Chief Justice about moving away from annual holidays for the whole court to individual vacations for each judge. In response, Minister of State for Law and Justice S P Singh Baghel said, “the Supreme Court and High Courts decide their own working days and the government did not have a role. But there is no harm in talking.”
Responding to a similar suggestion by Congress MP Vivek Tankha, Kiren Rijiju said, “Definitely, there is a feeling among people of India that the long vacation which the courts obtain is not very convenient for justice-seekers. Definitely, as the Law Minister, it is also my bounded obligation and duty to convey the message or sense of this House to the judiciary. Will definitely ensure that even if there are vacations, the functioning of the court should not be stopped.”
