While reading today’s morning newspaper, I started wondering what is happening in the country, as there were many news items that were covering what is happening in various courts and some news about crime. On the opening flap page of Times of India, Mumbai edition there are 7 news items regarding court cases and crime. Now if you go to the inside flap there are two news items about judiciary/SC . Going to the front or page number 1, other than world cup football and some small snippets, all other news items are about what is happening in the various courts in India . Now coming to the inside pages there are 20 such news items that are about crimes and the happening in courts.
I am mentioning below some of these news items:
1 Aaftab Poonawala’s van attacked by sword-wielding men- It looks like there is resentment among some groups because knowing that this person has committed a ghastly murder, still police dept is taking the sweet time complete the probe.
2 In a similar case, a woman along with her son from the first marriage, killed the husband, and after that, they chopped the body into 22 pieces, stacked them in the fridge, and then dumped these pieces.
3 Almost 18 years after a man was convicted and awarded life imprisonment for murder, the Delhi HC has found he was a juvenile at the time of the crime and set aside his life imprisonment because as a juvenile he would have spent only three years in protective custody.
4 A retired army man, and the managing committee members of the housing society are booked for the crime of culling pigeons and then selling them as pigeons.
5 RTI activist in UP was beaten to death over work on a quarry issue.
6 SC turns down journalist Tarun Tejpal’s request for in camera hearing, on the Goa government’s appeal against his acquittal in a sexual assault case.
7 SC stays demolition of 50-year old National Insurance building in Worli, Mumbai.
8 Maharashtra government gives a detailed status report on demolition work around the tomb of Afzal Khan , in Satara district (Maharashtra). The HC had directed to remove of illegal structure around the tomb 14 years back.
9 Upset with the slow pace of the trial, a man with four criminal cases against him attacks a woman judge with a knife, but he is overpowered by lawyers.
10 Bombay HC issues notice to Centre and State on a couple’s plea seeking a District Medical Board so it can process applications to register infertility clinics in Mumbai as mandated by the surrogacy law.
11 SC-appointed panel recommends a 4.7 km patch of Laldhang- Chilakarkhal road that passes through a crucial wildlife corridor between Corbett and Rajaji tiger reserves must be retained in its natural state.
12 The Centre on Monday told the SC that the ‘right to freedom of religion does not confer a fundamental right to convert other people to a particular religion.
13 A man gets 10 years RI for sex abuse of 11-year-old daughter.
14 Not practical to appoint a transgender as cop.
Now coming to the main headline of the newspaper
It is about the law minister’s criticism of the collegiums system for appointing judges, saying that the court should not take upon itself the task of appointing the judges. He further added that I do not criticize the collegiums, I just want to point out there are loopholes and there is no accountability, it lacks transparency. The SC’s stand is that the collegiums system is law of the land, and the Centre would have to follow it till is changed or replaced.
Now SC is saying that this system will remain till it is changed. In order to replace the collegiums system 99th constitution amendment was brought and the National Judicial Appointments Commission was set for the purpose of recruitment, appointment, and transfer of judges, but this amendment was quashed by the constitutional bench of SC in 2015 saying it was against the judicial independence.
It means that the collegiums system can do whatever they want regarding the appointments, transfer of judges in various HCs, and the apex court that is the SC. When the collegiums send the name of judges for approval to the law ministry, if some names are not approved, then SC judges start commenting on the ministry’s stand. There is another news which mentions that Government returns the file of a Gay judge and 19 others to SC collegiums. In this list, there are names of some judges whose appointments were not cleared by the ministry earlier, but still, their names were sent back for approval. As per the established procedure, the government is bound to appoint a judge if the SC collegiums, headed by Chief Justice reiterates any recommendation. However, in several cases in the past, the government has returned the files, with objections despite reiteration.
It looks like this tussle between the government and SC collegiums is going to continue for a long. The government’s stand is, it is not desirable that the collegiums of judges choose another judge, and government can not even raise objections. As per the government this system of collegiums can lead to favourtism, nepotism, and bias, which is not desirable for the judiciary.
Waiting for your views on this blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
29th November 2022.