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History created as Supreme Court invites public opinion on #collegium

Justice Khehar said, “Attorney, now you see the difficulty. All such suggestions will be forwarded by the Department of Justice to the learned counsel who had assisted this Court in the previous compilation, for incorporating additional suggestions in the earlier compilation, for consideration”.

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However, senior advocate Gopal Subramanium said new appointments should not go through when the Bench was yet to decide on how to improve the Collegium system, which has been criticised for being opaque and lacking guidelines.

All the suggestions will be limited on the point of transparency in the working of the Collegium, eligibility criteria for the selection of Judges, the setting up of a permanent Secretariat of the Collegium and the procedure for entertaining complaints in respect of the candidates being considered for judgeship. If Madhya Pradesh OBC advocates association through Varun Thakur demanded 51% reservation for OBC in judges’ posts, advocate Subba Rao wanted 22% reservation for SCsSTs, and lawyer Sneha Kalita joined the quota chorus by asking the court to consider reservation for women in the Su preme Court and high courts.

Fathoming strong undercurrents in the court room with unsung advocates stealing a march over the luminaries who till now held centrestage in arguing against the NJAC, a five-judge bench headed by Justice J S Khehar said it would be better to seek suggestions from all concerned citizens. Upendra Baxi, Supreme Court Women Lawyers’ Association and Lawyers’ Collective, a human rights NGO, among others. We have not said anything to the collegium and we will not be saying anything. It also allowed the Bar Council of India to convene its meetings and express their suggestions on the subject.

Another suggestion noted that too much transparency may be counter-productive to the process of appointments and a fair balance must be sought to ensure confidence in the process. “Likewise, all those who desire to make suggestions may do so directly, on the website of the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, New Delhi”, the bench, comprising Justices J S Khehar, J Chelameswar, M B Lokur, Kurian Joseph and A K Goel, said while posting the matter for hearing on November 18 and 19.

Welcoming the suggestions by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to put the already collated suggestions on the law and justice ministry’s website, the court asked the ministry to do so.

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“Suggestions received by 17:00 hours on November 13 shall be entertained”.

Supreme court