“Will Have To Constitute Bench”: Chief Justice On Collegium System

New Delhi: The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will establish a bench to address a plea challenging the Collegium system for appointing judges to the apex court and high courts. Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud informed advocate Mathews J Nedumpara that a bench would be formed after the latter mentioned a previous plea for urgent listing.

Nedumpara referred to recent interviews with former apex court judge Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, who retired on December 25 last year. In a December 29 interview with PTI, Justice (retd) Kaul expressed dissatisfaction with the functioning of the Collegium system, stating that the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) was not given a chance to work. The NJAC, enacted by the Modi government in 2014, was intended to be responsible for judicial appointments but was struck down by the Supreme Court in October 2015 as unconstitutional.

Justice (retd) Kaul acknowledged issues with the Collegium system, stating that it is unrealistic to claim it works smoothly. He highlighted the number of pending appointments and stressed the need to recognize and address the problems in the system. Despite its flaws, he emphasized that the Collegium system is currently the law of the land and must be implemented as it stands.