SC raps Centre again over judges appointments, criticism of Collegium

The Supreme Court on Thursday yet again pulled up the Centre over delays in judges' appointments as it stressed that the government must follow the collegium system, which is the law of the land. The court asked Attorney General R Venkataramani to advise Union Ministers to exercise control over their public criticism of the collegium system, saying the statements made recently are “not being taken very well”.

The Attorney General has been asked by the bench to advise the government to follow the legal principles laid down by the top court. “Till the law is there, we will follow it. You (Centre) may bring another law. The Constitution bench judgment must be adhered. As the Supreme Court, we have to enforce the rule of law,” the top court said on the delay in the appointments to the higher judiciary.

“If every section of society starts laying down which law is to be followed & which isn’t to be followed then it’ll be breakdown. If you want to bring some other law you can always bring some law if it stands scrutiny,” it further added.

On the central government returning several names, the bench underlined, "Nineteen names were sent back. How will this ping-pong battle settle? When the HC collegium clears name, and the collegium clears the name, there are many factors involved. There is some hierarchy."

On Wednesday, the Union Government had told the top court that the binding the President of India to a timeline in matters of judicial appointments is “not appropriate”, while flagging several concerns over engaging the services of retired judges to tackle massive pendency of cases across the high courts of the country.

Last week, calling itself the “most transparent institution”, the top court said the collegium system should not be derailed on the basis of statements of “some busybody.”