The government today told the Supreme Court that the tax payers had a right to know the quality of judges appointed to the higher judiciary, as it once again criticised the collegium system “of judges appointing judges - for promoting judges who reserved judgments in hundreds of cases after long hearings but never pronounced them”.
“A tax payer may say that I pay your (judges) salaries, I have a right to know who is going to be a judge,” Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the constitution bench of Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Justice J Chelameswar, Justice Madan B Lokur, Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel.
Continuing his attack on the “nepotism” in the collegium system, he said that “a judge who has given not more than 50 judgments in 15 years during his stint with various high courts can’t be elevated to the top court”.
Citing the case of a judge who left hundreds of judgments reserved across various high courts and never pronounced them, Rohatgi said: “It is collegium that gave him laurels after laurels and brought him here (apex court) and sent him to NHRC (an apparent reference to the apex rights panel’s acting chairperson Justice Cyriac Joseph).”
“It is a case of nepotism,” he said as the bench reminded him that only on Thursday he was advocating giving women, SC/ST, weaker sections and minorities a voice in the National Judicial Appointments Commission under the eminent persons category, thereby indicating that the judge in question came under those consider ations.
Apparently contending that blame for some questionable appointments could not be laid at the doorsteps of collegium alone with the government washing its hands, Justice Khehar asked: “Did executive (government) object to it. The recommendation did not come from the NHRC but from the government.”
“One case can’t be a basis to read a rule to hammer the entire working of the collegium system,” the court said as the Attorney General went on assailing the manner in which appointments were made in the past.
As a judge on the bench pointed out that the judge in question had pronounced 219 judgments during his stint with various high courts, Rohatgi contested this, saying he had pronounced only seven judgments out of which two were concurrent and he can produce records to support his claim.
Advocating a criteria-based, transparent system of appointment, Rohatgi said such undeserving appointments would not pass through the NJAC and that the manner in which the collegium sends recommendations is “not worthy of acceptance”.
“The shroud of mystery that the collegium system had can only be lifted by the NJAC,” he contended, adding that under this, an underperforming judge cannot be made chief justice.
Addressing the court’s apprehensions that disclosure of information under RTI would make the job of selecting judge by the NJAC difficult, Rohatgi argued that it may not be necessary that all the information relating to the appointment of judges needed to be disclosed under the transparency law.
Urging the court to give a “purposive” interpretation as to what two eminent persons in the NJAC would mean, senior counsel KK Venugopal urged the court not to strike it down as such a course would reduce the NJAC to the collegium level with the CJI, two other seniormost judges and the union law minister.
Appearing for the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Madhya Pradesh, he asked the court to “put whatever limitation that may like to impose on it”.
Hearing will continue on Monday.
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We have TOI for masala. Don't steal their job.
I am afraid I will have to agree with the haters this time. The AG and the government share a relationship far more comprehensive and deeper than an attorney-client relationship. Articles 76 and 88 of the Constitution give him the right of audience in all courts in India as well as the right to address Parliament (without even being an MP). Do you know of any lawyer who has the right to address the Board Meeting of his client?
Further, the AG is empowered to perform all such duties which have been conferred on him by the Constitution or any other law in force (and not just briefs handed over by the Government), as compared to merely 'executing instructions' of his client.
Of course the relationship is not literally identical to that of a normal client and lawyer in every way, but as cheeky headline for an educated audience I don't think it does any harm.
But your comment has pointed out an interesting facet - maybe an AG is a closer analogue to being a very senior general counsel of a company, who is also on its board (with some special constitutional powers)... The law minister can be the CFO. :)
You may also recall that the late Goolam Vahanvati was regularly criticised in the media for treating the AG's office as closer to a client-lawyer relationship than a constitutional position.
In fact, I wrote a column in Outlook about it a few years ago, trying to mount a bit of a defence of him and his approach:
www.outlookindia.com/article/the-company-he-keeps/288474
Are you kidding?
AG is like Senior General Counsel?
Law Minister is like a CFO ?
What have you been smoking?
Do you understand that the GC is an employee. Why just GCs, plenty of non-board senior employees are invited to board meetings. The AG is not a government employee.
The Law Minister is part of the government, no question of being 'CFO' or 'COO' or anything else. At most it can be said he's a director of a company.
The comparison is nonsensical. You've been caught out having goofed up and you're generating these stupid responses.
It's an analogy or a likeness, the two are literally not identical.
Are you saying a lawyer having a client is 'cheap'?
An AG is arguing on behalf of the Government and is briefed by the Government and is paid by the Government, therefore the Government is an AG's client.
#skeletons in the closet
#bullshit
The AG might be a constitutional post, and the AG might enjoy some privileges under the Constitution, but in Court and in this matter, the AG is representing his client, the Government.
Reporting facts and barbs made in court by bpth sides is hardly sensationalist.
In India, the AG remains a practicing lawyer under the Advocates Act, he remains on the rolls of the Bar Council, he is therefore not an employee of the Govt nor a govt functionary. He is a legal adviser to the Govt of India on a retainer and the GOI is his client who he advises as and when called upon. In India (unlike in the US), the AG is not responsible for the general administration of justice (prosecutions, indictments, investigations etc), he can't direct the launching of an investigation or a prosecution. He only acts when a legal brief is sent to him by his client who he then advises at arms length as a legal counsel.
Several Indian AG's have routinely differentiated in court arguments between their role as an officer of the court (as an advocate under the Advocates Act) and their role as a lawyer putting forward the position of their client, i.e., the GOI.
I think the Queen of England would be a suitable choice, we can undo exactly 68 years of history! :) LOL
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