Former judge of Delhi High Court, RS Sodhi, whose criticism of the Collegium system of appointing judges became the government’s peg for revisiting the issue yesterday, has indicated that a new system with the government representative in it, could be the right way to go. The current system, he reiterated, is “arbitrary”, “high-handed” and a “fiefdom” of three persons. .
Asked if he would agree that there should be a government representative in the Collegium, he told NDTV: “I don’t have to agree. If you don’t want the government, then you are the one appointing yourself. Is it done anywhere in the world? You must respect the constitution at least. The system has to change.”
The Supreme Court’s move to select judges through the Collegium system, “amounts to legislating and amending the constitution”, Justice Sodhi said. “That is not within the purview of Supreme Court’s power”.
Justice Sodhi, in a recent interview, had accused the Supreme Court of “hijacking” the constitution. The law minister had posted the video clip on Twitter, commenting on “sane view” of the majority.
“Voice of a judge… Real beauty of Indian Democracy is its success. People rule themselves through their representatives. Elected representatives represent the interests of the people and laws. Our judiciary is independent, and our constitution is supreme,” his tweet read.
In an earlier interview to NDTV today, Justice Sodhi suggested that the minister not “shoot the gun” off his shoulder, making him a party to the ongoing debate that is blowing up by the day.
“I thank the Law Minister for raising the issue, but I’m not a political person. Don’t shoot the gun off my shoulder. This is my personal opinion that the collegium system is unconstitutional. There should be a secretariat in High Courts and Supreme Court,” he told NDTV.
The back-and-forth between the government and judiciary had started over the appointment of judges, has now grown to involve which of the two arms of democracy – legislature and the judiciary – has supremacy over the other.
The “basic structure” of the constitution — demarcated by the Supreme Court in 1973 as parts that cannot be changed — has also been drawn into the ambit of the debate.
