The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Change judges' appointment procedure: Jethmalani

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Change judges' appointment procedure: Jethmalani

Special Correspondent

‘This is essential for improving the country's political culture'

— Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

Birth anniversary:Ram Jethmalani, MP and former Union Law Minister, paying floral tribute to Ramakrishna Hegde in Bangalore on Sunday.

BANGALORE: Ram Jethmalani, MP and former Union Law Minister, on Sunday called for a change in the procedure of appointment of judges to higher courts. This would help in improving the country's political culture, he said.

He stressed the need for changing the method of appointment of judges to ensure selection of persons with integrity.

“Independent judiciary is a must to combat corruption, which is the root cause for decline in country's political culture,” Mr. Jethmalani said at a seminar on “Parliament and political culture” organised by the Rashtriya Navanirmana Vedike to mark the 84 {+t} {+h} birth anniversary of the former Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde here.

“If you want to improve the country's political culture, you need to completely free the process of appointment of judges from influences from all quarters, including from politicians,” Mr. Jethmalani said.

He favoured a national judicial commission comprising the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and representatives from Bar associations, academic field and the social sciences sector to select judges.

Pointing out that India is not only a democratic country, but also a democratic republic, he said this meant that people were of paramount importance than just the majority in the Legislature Houses unlike the mere democratic set ups. “Even if an anti-people legislation is adopted by the Houses, it has to stand the test of law before courts. For this, an independent judiciary is a must. This can happen when we change the method of appointment of judges,” he said.

Stressing the need for the Houses to become more orderly, he said this would happen only if there were more number of women representatives.

Speaking on the occasion, leaders from various political parties stressed the need for improving the political culture of the country. Law Minister Suresh Kumar traced the declining political culture to the nature of candidates being fielded by political parties. “Parties give importance to the ability of the candidates to win elections than other parameters,” he pointed out.

Expressing concern over the reluctance of young legislators to attend the Legislature sessions, he said such legislators had told him that they would get votes if they attended marriages and funerals in their constituencies instead of participating in the sessions. Today's young legislators did not have many role model parliamentarians to learn political values, he added.

The former Speaker Ramesh Kumar hailed Ramakrishna Hegde as a person who never got intoxicated by political power.

Janata Dal (Secular) leader P.G.R. Sindhia recalled how Ramakrishna Hegde raised a battery of second and third line leaders instead of the trend of suppressing budding leadership.

Ramakrishna Hegde's daughter and vedike president Mamatha Nichani, Hegde's wife Shakuntala Hegde, Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde, and Biocon Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar Shaw were among those present.

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