Law Minister Kiren Rijiju has called his latest letter to Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud — seeking representation of the Centre in the Supreme Court Collegium — “just a follow-up action” in sync with a previous Supreme Court judgment.
“It is just a follow-up action of the letters written earlier to the CJI following the direction of the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench while striking down the National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC) Act,” Rijiju told News18. He pointed out that the Constitution Bench had directed restructuring of the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) of the collegium system.
The minister’s letter has stirred a row, with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal calling the move dangerous. “This is extremely dangerous. There shud be absolutely no govt interference in judicial appointments,” Kejriwal tweeted.
In his counter, Rijiju tweeted that his letter was in sync with SC guidelines. “I hope you honour Court’s direction! This is precise follow-up action of the direction of Supreme Court Constitution Bench while striking down the National Judicial Appointment Commission Act. The SC Constitution Bench had directed to restructure the MoP of the collegium system,” the minister said.
He added: “The contents in the letter to hon’ble CJI are exactly in conformity with the observations and directions of the Supreme Court Constitution Bench. Convenient politics is not advisable, especially in the name of Judiciary. Constitution of India is supreme and nobody is above it.”
Legal experts also see the latest push by the government as an attempt to bring back the NJAC via the ‘back door.’
The controversy began after Rijiju, in his latest communication with the CJI, sought the representation of the State (central government) in the Supreme Court Collegium.
Rijiju had earlier told News18 that the collegium system of judicial appointment was faulty and must be changed.
His comments attracted sharp criticism from Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul. “When someone in a high position says that…it should not have happened. We have expressed our anguish. It appears that the government is not happy that the NJAC has not passed the muster,” Justice Kaul and Justice Oka observed in November this year.
The bench had also asked the Attorney General why names recommended by the Collegium were not being processed by the central government.
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