R Sedhuraman
Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, October 24
The government today suggested a drastic dilution of the judiciary's role in the appointment of Judges as Law Minister M Veerappa Moily unveiled a "Vision Statement" for cutting down delays and banishing cases pending for more than three years.
"The Executive and the Legislature must take initiative in recommending the best possible talent for selection to the judiciary," Moily said in the 32-page document presented to Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan. The "government should also be given the power to suggest outstanding lawyers and jurists as Judges," the Minister said in the statement, which would be discussed threadbare today and tomorrow at a conference aimed at "strengthening the judiciary towards reducing pendency and delays."
Moily's proposals have come in the wake of the crisis-like situation that has arisen following allegations of judicial misconduct against a number of Judges — Karnataka High Court Chief Justice PD Dinakaran and Judges Soumitra Sen of Calcutta HC and Nirmal Yadav of Punjab and Haryana HC. The custodial death of Ashutosh Asthana, the prime accused in the Uttar Pradesh PF scam which reportedly involves several Judges, has cast a further shadow on the judiciary.
In fact, addressing the media in the run-up to the conference,
the Law Minister made a damning statement: the "judiciary's credibility has to be resurrected."
Styled as "National Consultation," the conference is being attended by Supreme Court Judges and Chief Justices of High Courts, including Justice Dinakaran, and top judicial luminaries from across the country. The meet would pass a resolution on the vision document tomorrow and only then would it be clear whether the change in the appointment procedure was acceptable to the judiciary.
Both the Law Commission headed by Justice AR Lakshmanan and the Parliamentary Standing Committee report have recommended reverting to the pre-1993 system which involved appointment of HC and SC Judges through consultation between the Chief Justice of India and the government - primarily the Prime Minister and the Law Minister.
In all, Moily has suggested five "improvements" in the present system of appointment. The other three are: There should be lucid and comprehensive guidelines which the Collegium should follow in the matter of selection of judges. The Collegium should be given a timeline to clear the backlog in vacancies. The government and the Collegium should work “hand in hand while appointing
Judges.”
