Lok Sabha elections: Upendra Kushwaha calls collegium system ‘undemocratic’ in presence of Amit Shah

Former Union minister and NDA candidate Upendra Kushwaha slammed the collegium system of appointment of judges in the higher judiciary and called it "undemocratic".

During a rally in Bihar's Karakat, from where he is contesting the Lok Sabha elections, Kushwaha said,"The collegium system has many flaws. It is undemocratic. It has shut the doors of judgeship in the higher judiciary on Dalits, OBCs and even the poor among the upper castes."

Kushwaha blamed the collegium system for domination of a few judge families in the Supreme Court and the high courts. Calling the system "anomalous", he highlighted that it had been criticised by the current president and her predecessor.

"If we look at the composition of the bench in the Supreme Court and the high courts, it is dominated by members of a few hundred families. A reason why the anomalous system has been criticised by no less than the current president and her predecessor," he said as quoted by news agency PTI.

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After the Narendra Modi government came into power in 2014, the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill was brought in 2014. Talking about that bill, Kushwaha said "For some reason, it was struck down by the Supreme Court."

Kushawa promised the people that NDA would address the issues surrounding the Collegium system unlike other political parties who he claimed didn't take a principled stand.

On Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, Kushwaha said "we cannot expect a principled stand on such issues from someone who keeps oscillating between jail and bail".

"It was the NDA that dared to bite the bullet on the thorny issue of collegium system. And it is the NDA which will continue to make efforts in this direction," said Kushwaha.