CJI Ramana defends collegium system; says it’s too early to retire at 65

New Delhi, April 12

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana has defended the collegium system of judges’ appointment, terming it a democratic process that involved lengthy consultation with all stakeholders.

“There is an impression in India that judges appoint judges. It’s a wrong impression and I want to correct it. The appointment is done through a lengthy consultative process, and many stakeholders are consulted. I don’t think that this process can be more democratic than this,” the CJI said at the 2nd Comparative Constitutional Law Conversation Series webinar on ‘Comparative Approaches of Supreme Courts of World’s Largest Democracies’ on Monday.

Jointly organised by the Society for Democratic Rights, New Delhi and the Georgetown University Law Centre, Washington DC, the webinar was also addressed by Justice Stephen Breyer of the US Supreme Court.

Responding to a question from moderator William M Treanor, Dean and Executive Vice President of Georgetown University Law Center regarding his post-retirement plans, Justice Ramana said retirement from the judiciary did not mean that he would retire from public life.

“65 years is too early for someone to retire. I worked for almost 22 years as a High Court judge, High Court chief Justice, Supreme Court judge and now CJI. In the Indian judiciary, at the time of joining, we know our date of retirement. There are no exceptions,” the CJI said.

“As for me, I am still left with a decent amount of energy, I am the son of an agriculturist, I am still left with some land to cultivate. I am basically a man of the people. I love to be among the people. It has been my nature since my student days,” he went on.

The CJI said, “I hope I will find the right avenue to invest my energy for the sake of people. One thing I can say for certain is that retirement from the judiciary does not mean that I will retire from public life. So I can say that I am too busy to comment about my future retirement plans.”