#Collegium: Supreme Court leaves it to Centre to amend Memorandum of Procedure, gives suggestions [Read Order]

The Supreme Court today accepted the submissions of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi that the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) governing the working of Collegium is a document prepared by the Government of India in consultation with the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and the court should not undertake the responsibility of amending the same.

The Constitution Bench said that it is leaving this task to the Central government which is now required to amend the MoP in consultation with the Chief Justice of India. The CJI, in turn, is required to consult the Collegium in this regard.

The Court has, however, given a series of broad suggestions which the Government could consider while amending the MoP.

These, inter alia, include the following:

1. Eligibility criteria: prescribe eligibility criteria including minimum age for both High Court and Supreme Court judges.

2. Transparency in appointments: Eligibility criteria to be put up on websites of concerned court and Ministry of Law and Justice. Recording of dissenting opinions of judges in Collegium while taking care that confidentiality of procedure is not lost.

3. Secretariat: Establishment of Secretariat for all High Courts and Supreme Court. Secretariat to provide for dealing of complaints against candidates for judgeship.

The Court has clarified that the guidelines are only broad suggestions for the consideration of the government and CJI and are not binding.

Read the complete order below.