New Delhi: The Supreme Court collegium’s decision to make public the inputs received from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) regarding the candidates recommended for judgeship was a matter of “grave concern”, Union law minister Kiren Rijiju said on Tuesday.
Conveying his discord with the collegium on the issue of the disclosure of reasons contained in the confidential reports, Rijiju said: “It is a serious matter that the reports of IB and RAW were put in the public domain. I will certainly comment more on this at the right time.”
The minister, addressing the media at an event organised by the department of justice, added that intelligence agency officials work in a secret manner for the nation, and they would think twice in future if their reports are made public.
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“Putting out secret or sensitive reports of RAW and IB is a matter of grave concern…I will address this issue in due time,” said Rijiju, a day after he issued another statement critical of the judiciary in the ongoing executive-judiciary row over the process of judges’ appointments.
“Judges do not have to face elections after their appointments. They don’t have to face public scrutiny either…people cannot change them because people do not elect them. But people are watching you…the judgments you give, how you work…people are not only watching but also making assessments and forming opinions,” the minister said on Monday as he addressed an event organised by a lawyers’ body in Delhi.
On Sunday, the minister sought to support the views of retired Delhi high court judge RS Sodhi, who said the Supreme Court “hijacked” the Constitution by deciding to appoint judges itself. Justice Sodhi, in a video interview shared by Rijiju, said the right to frame laws lies with Parliament. The law minister tweeted: “Actually majority of the people have similar sane views. It’s only those people who disregard the provisions of the Constitution and mandate of the people think that they are above the Constitution of India.”
The law minister’s statement on Tuesday came in response to the collegium’s move to publish detailed resolutions citing reasons in support of each candidate who has been recommended for appointment as a judge.
Marking a departure from the earlier practice when only names used to be released, the collegium, comprising CJI Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, and justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and KM Joseph, last week published resolutions citing the objections raised by IB and RAW against certain lawyers recommended for their appointment as judges in different high courts and the collegium’s reply.
While RAW had flagged certain concerns about the partner of senior advocate Saurabh Kirpal, who the collegium wants appointed as a judge in the Delhi high court, IB raised objections against the appointment of advocate R John Sathyan as a judge in the Madras high court because he had shared of an article critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The collegium, in its resolutions published on January 19, rejected the agencies’ feedback in both these cases and reiterated the two names to the government for appointment.
Addressing the event in the national capital to felicitate the award winners of the eCourts Project initiatives, Rijiju on Tuesday also underscored the problem of massive pendency of cases. “Today, around 4.9 crore cases are pending across the courts. Pendency means delay of justice, and delaying the justice is denial of justice,” rued the minister.
He said that access to justice must mean ensuring fast delivery of justice. “It is only when the government and the judiciary come together, the rate of pendency of cases can be brought down. Technology will play a very critical role in reducing the caseload,” said Rijiju.
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The minister said combined efforts of all stakeholders are required so that people in India can have faith in the system. “We are working with the judiciary, the Supreme Court and the high courts…one organ of the State alone cannot do everything,” said Rijiju.
The minister announced that the Judgement Search Portal, developed under the eCourts Mission Mode Project, bagged the Digital India Award 2022 while the eCommittee, Supreme Court of India, was felicitated with a national award for institutions engaged in empowering persons with disabilities. CJI Chandrachud is the chairman of the eCommittee.
Over the last few months, the law minister has been relentless in his criticism of the judges’ selection mechanism, which has become a flashpoint between the executive and the judiciary. While the minister repeatedly attacked the collegium system for being “opaque” and “alien” to the Constitution, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar weighed in and questioned the top court for striking down the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act (NJAC) which sought to give the government a greater role in judicial appointments.
In its retort, the Supreme Court in December advised government functionaries to “exercise control”, and stressed that the Union government is bound to follow the collegium system “to a T” because that is the law of the land.
