Editor's Pick: SC angry over appointment delays, says government taking on judiciary

Dear reader, We have now made it easier for you to manage your The Hindu newsletter subscriptions in one place! 1. Visit The Hindu newsletters page here 2. Click MANAGE tab and then click LOGIN / SIGN UP 3. If you don’t have an account with The Hindu, please click SIGN UP OR If you already have an account with The Hindu with this email ID, please login using the email ID In an escalation of already simmering tensions between the judiciary and the Centre over appointment of judges, the Supreme Court said on Monday that the government’s willingness to “cross some Rubicons” and take on the judiciary by delaying Collegium recommendations was linked to the bitter failure of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC). Back in 2015, the top court had struck down the NJAC, which gave the government an equal say in judicial appointments. The court in its judgment had also reviewed the collegium system of appointing judges. A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and A.S. Oka observed that there seemed to be an “unhappiness in the government” that the NJAC did not “muster the constitutional mandate”. “That cannot be the reason to not comply with the law of the land.” Incidentally, the hearing came after fresh comments from Law Minister Kiren Rijiju criticising the Collegium system. Mr. Rijiju reportedly dared the judiciary to “issue its own notifications” of appointments if it believed the Centre was sitting on Collegium recommendations. The Law Minister’s comments attracted a sharp response from Justice Kaul when he was apprised of them. “Let them give the power to us then, we have no difficulty… When somebody high up says ‘let them do it’, we will do it ourselves… This [Rijiju’s remarks] came from somebody high enough, it should not have.” Monday’s hearing marked a new high in the judiciary and the Centre’s differences when it comes to appointments. In recent weeks, the Law Minister has made repeated comments criticising the Collegium system on public platforms while the Supreme Court has accused the government of using silence and inaction as a ploy to compel the withdrawal of consent by eminent persons considered for judgeships in the constitutional courts. While the issue of opacity in the closed-door Collegium system has been a long-standing debate, some of the names recommended have been pending with the Centre for a year and a half. Some of them had been originally recommended way back in 2019. The court pointed out on Monday that 20% of the judicial posts in High Courts were vacant. Justice Kaul said Chief Justices of several High Courts have complained about lawyers being unwilling to accept invitations to the Bench because of the uncertainty posed by the government’s inaction. The report on the delay in judicial appointments appears on the front page of today’s edition of The Hindu as it has a direct impact on the huge pendency of cases in the top court and High Courts. Notably, the Constitution Day-eve function saw Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud make a pointed remark that the judiciary and government would not be able to work together to appoint good judges if they spent time finding fault in each other. The Hindu’s Editorials Same rights: On Government’s response to appeals to allow same-sex marriage Time for change: On ending the zero-COVID policy The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz What is the term given to the form of hacking that lets attackers access a device through its discoverable Bluetooth connection? Bluebugging Bluehacking Bluetapping Bluetracking To know the answer and to play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 29 NOVEMBER 2022 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( SC angry over appointment delays, says government taking on judiciary Dear reader, We have now made it easier for you to manage your The Hindu newsletter subscriptions in one place! 1. Visit The Hindu newsletters page [here]( 2. Click MANAGE tab and then click LOGIN / SIGN UP 3. If you don’t have an account with The Hindu, please click SIGN UP OR If you already have an account with The Hindu with this email ID, please login using the email ID In an escalation of already simmering tensions between the judiciary and the Centre over appointment of judges, the Supreme Court [said on Monday]( that the government’s willingness to “cross some Rubicons” and take on the judiciary by delaying Collegium recommendations was linked to the bitter failure of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC). Back in 2015, the top court had struck down the NJAC, which gave the government an equal say in judicial appointments. The court in its judgment had also reviewed the collegium system of appointing judges. A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and A.S. Oka observed that there seemed to be an “unhappiness in the government” that the NJAC did not “muster the constitutional mandate”. “That cannot be the reason to not comply with the law of the land.” Incidentally, the hearing came after fresh comments from Law Minister Kiren Rijiju criticising the Collegium system. Mr. Rijiju reportedly dared the judiciary to “issue its own notifications” of appointments if it believed the Centre was sitting on Collegium recommendations. The Law Minister’s comments attracted a sharp response from Justice Kaul when he was apprised of them. “Let them give the power to us then, we have no difficulty… When somebody high up says ‘let them do it’, we will do it ourselves… This [Rijiju’s remarks] came from somebody high enough, it should not have.” Monday’s hearing marked a new high in the judiciary and the Centre’s differences when it comes to appointments. In recent weeks, the Law Minister has made repeated comments criticising the Collegium system on public platforms while the Supreme Court has accused the government of using silence and inaction as a ploy to compel the withdrawal of consent by eminent persons considered for judgeships in the constitutional courts. While the issue of opacity in the closed-door Collegium system has been a long-standing debate, some of the names recommended have been pending with the Centre for a year and a half. Some of them had been originally recommended way back in 2019. The court pointed out on Monday that 20% of the judicial posts in High Courts were vacant. Justice Kaul said Chief Justices of several High Courts have complained about lawyers being unwilling to accept invitations to the Bench because of the uncertainty posed by the government’s inaction. The report on the delay in judicial appointments appears on the front page of today’s edition of The Hindu as it has a direct impact on the huge pendency of cases in the top court and High Courts. Notably, the Constitution Day-eve function saw Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud make a pointed remark that the judiciary and government would not be able to work together to appoint good judges if they spent time finding fault in each other. 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