The Centre in its suggestions made in the Supreme Court maintained that Parliament must have a say in the selection of judges to the high courts and the Supreme Court.
The Centre through Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi said, “While being in humble agreement with the unanimous view of this court in the judgment on the specific point that reform of the collegium system of appointments is essential, the proper procedure for effectuating such improvement must also be carefully considered. Notwithstanding anything laid down in these proceedings, Parliament shall have the power to make any law, within the parameters of the Constitution, to govern the criteria and process for appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and high courts.”
It said nothing in these suggestions should be construed as stopping the Parliament or Union of India from exercising such power in the first place. If changes to the collegium system are to be made by this bench, such changes will have to be consistent with the the Third Judges’ Case and the matter must be considered by a bench of appropriate strength (of nine judges) and consequent changes made by the Government of India to the memorandum of procedure.
It said, in order to ensure efficient selection of judges for the high courts and Supreme Court, a proper secretariat must be established in the Supreme Court and each high court for the purpose of collecting background information and research to assess the judicial worth of a particular candidate. This must be a full-time secretariat with a senior officer-in-charge and such staff as may be necessary keeping in view the strength of the respective court. For existing judges sought to be appointed to the high court or Supreme Court age, number of judgments delivered, some landmark cases to assess the quality of judgments delivered, academic speeches and contribution to the law and other factors relevant to assess judicial worth of a candidate.
It wanted well-defined criteria to be established by the Supreme Court for appointment to the high courts and to the Supreme Court as also Chief Justices of the high court. Such criteria may include, inter alia, merit, seniority, integrity and issues of representativeness, specifically gender, geography and other relevant factors.
Specific criteria should also be introduced for appointment of members of the Bar and distinguished jurists to the Supreme Court and special emphasis placed on appointing judges from these categories given their historic under-representation.
