SCBA holds discussion on Judicial Appointments, Lawyers give feedback

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) yesterday organised a Seminar on judicial appointments in the Supreme Court lawns in a bid to ascertain the opinion of lawyers about the proposed Judicial Appointment Commission (JAC)..SCBA President MN Krishnamani, Chairman of Bar Council of India (BCI) Manan Kumar Mishra, Senior Advocates TR Andhyarujina and Shekhar Naphdey and Advocate Prashant Bhushan were amongst others who spoke on the occasion..Terming the congregation as “Lawyers’ Parliament”, BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra came down upon the JAC as Executive high handedness. He advocated for improvement in the Collegium system and also criticised the practice of judges accepting post retirement jobs..SCBA President MN Krishnamani, who spoke on the occasion, suggested solutions for improvement of the Collegium system and said that the JAC would not be a solution to the problem. Citing the shortcomings of the JAC Bill, 2013 including absence of definition of the term “eminent persons” in the Bill, Krishnamani proposed improvement in the Collegium system by laying down eligibility criterion for judges to be considered for appointment to the Supreme Court and High Courts. Krishnamani also said that lawyers would go on a one day token strike all over the country if their demands were not met..Senior Advocate TR Andhyarujina, however, supported the JAC but said that the JAC Bill had scope for improvement and said that members of the Bar should come together and submit their suggestions before the Bill is passed by the Lok Sabha so that the JAC Bill devises a system free from the ills of the present Collegium system..Senior Advocate Shekhar Naphade took a dig at SCBA and the BCI for their silence for 20 years when the Collegium system was churning out judges to the higher Judiciary despite allegations from various quarters about the arbitrariness and lack of transparency in the functioning of the system. Coming down upon the Bar for not being vigilant, he said that “we got judges whom we deserved”..Advocate Prashant Bhushan called for the establishment of a permanent body for the selection of judges and opined that the an ex officio body like the JAC will not serve the purpose as its members will not have time to devote for discussions and consultations essential for making such appointments. He said that only a full time body dedicated solely for judges’ appointments will help in bringing about the much needed transparency and help in improving the quality of the Bar..Advocates in attendance were given a feedback form to express their opinion on the issue. The BCI and SCBA have called for constitution of a “Central Advisory Committee” and “State Advisory Committees” to aid and advise the collegiums in the appointment of judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts. The same was also reflected in the feedback form. BCI had earlier made it clear that it wanted one nominee from Bar Associations in the collegiums of the Supreme Court and High Courts..Advocates from different District Bar Associations, State Bar Councils, BCI and SCBA attended the function. The marginal presence of Supreme Court lawyers was, however, striking. Bar & Bench spoke to many Supreme Court advocates before the function, most of whom had no clue why the pandhals had been put up in the lawns. No official notification about the function was published on the SCBA website either..The proposed JAC, which seeeks to replace the current Collegium system, will consist of the Chief Justice of India, two senior most judges of the supreme Court, the Union Law Minister and 2 eminent persons to be nominated by the Prime Minister, CJI and the Leader of Opposition of the Lok Sabha. This will bring an end to the system of judges appointing judges, a right that the judiciary had wrested from the executive, and has been exercising since 1993. It is also learnt that the government is considering giving Constitutional status to the CJI in the JAC so that his position as the Chairperson of the JAC is not altered subsequently. Under the proposed system, the composition of the JAC is provided in the JAC Bill and it can be altered by effecting an amendment by a simple majority in both the Houses of the Parliament.