NEW DELHI: Expressing concern over the inordinate delay in filling vacancies of judges in the Supreme Court and the High Courts in the last 12 years, the Standing Committee on the Ministry of Law and Justice has asked the Centre to consider evolving a new mechanism of appointments.

The report of the committee presented to Parliament recently pointed out that till 1993 the Executive had a say in the appointment of judges, but after the Supreme Court judgment of October 1993, such appointments were being done by the collegium of judges in the judiciary.

The committee, headed by its chairman, E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan, says the process of initiation of the proposal for appointment of judges of the Supreme Court lies with the Chief Justice of India and for appointment of judges in a High Court it lies with the Chief Justices of the respective High Courts. The Centre has been requesting the Chief Justices of the High Courts, the Chief Ministers and the Governors to initiate the proposals for filling up of the present as well as the anticipated vacancies in the next six months.

The committee says that it examined the issue as per the pre and post 1993 dispensations and it is of the view that the delays in judicial appointment as per the present procedure is a matter of serious public concern. The failure to fill up judicial vacancies promptly cannot be shielded or defended in the name of judicial independence.

The committee feels that time has come when the issue has not only to be deliberated at the highest level, but also to be debated in the public domain so that an alternative system that could bring about an overall improvement in the situation could emerge. It called upon the Law Ministry to come forward with a concrete alternative, addressing the issue of appointment of judges of the higher judiciary by evolving a suitable mechanism through the Executive decision with judicial scrutiny, instead of allowing the judiciary alone to choose the judges.

The committee feels that the nomenclature of the Madras, Bombay and Calcutta High Courts needs to be changed after the renaming of the cities as Chennai, Mumbai, and Kolkata respectively.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail