Recently, the Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and “suggested” the inclusion of a government nominee in the decision-making process for shortlisting of judges.
Key points
- The letter offered the suggestion since the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) is “pending finalisation”.
- The suggestion is that the “search-cum-evaluation committee (SEC)” for Supreme Court and High Court judges should include a government nominee. This would be a major departure from the existing system where the Collegiums comprise solely of senior judges.
- According to media reports, the letter stated that a representative of the Union government should be a member of the SEC for appointment of judges in the Supreme Court and chief justices of high courts.
- The SECs for appointment of judges in the high court should also have a nominee of the state government, as per the letter. The letter, however, did not ask for government representatives in the collegium itself.
- The Supreme Court Collegium consists of the CJI and four senior-most judges of the apex court. High Court Collegium consists of the Chief Justice of the High Court and two senior-most judges of that particular court.
- The recommendations made by the Collegium are binding: while the government can flag concerns and ask the Collegium to reconsider, if the Collegium chooses to reiterate its recommendations, they become binding.
- The Law Minister’s letter found fault with a Supreme Court judgment in 2021 which had given the government maximum 18 weeks to process the names forwarded to the Law Ministry by the High Courts and send them to the Supreme Court Collegium for final approval.
Memorandum of Procedure (MoP)
- The Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) is the list of rules and procedures for the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and the high courts.
- It is a document framed by the government and the judiciary together.
