After his letter to PM Narendra Modi, Justice Rang Nath Pandey’s Full Court Reference cancelled due to “unforeseen circumstances”

Days after his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighting deficiencies in the Collegium system was made public, the full court reference scheduled to be held for Justice Rang Nath Pandey of the Allahabad High Court stands cancelled.

The reference, held for high court judges on their retirement, was scheduled to take place today at 3:45 PM. However, a notice issued by the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court today states that the function has been cancelled owing to “unforeseen circumstances”.

In his 3-page letter dated July 1, Justice Rang Nath Pandey had written to PM Modi that the only criteria for appointment of judges through the Collegium system were casteism and nepotism. Appointments made through the existing system are fraught with opaqueness, favouritism and bias, he wrote.

The opaqueness of the process is specifically taken care of and the names of future judges are made public only after the entire process is completed, Justice Pandey stated in his letter.

He further added that while the questions of ‘who and how’ remain unknown, the practice of keeping the procedure a secret violates the principles of transparency. As a result, whether that judge performs unbiased judicial work also remains a question, Justice Pandey says.

Justice Pandey has also alleged that when the appointment of the relatives of some senior judges as High Court judges is difficult, they are made judges in the subordinate judiciary as the selection and appointment of subordinate judges is done under the aegis of the State Public Service Commission and the concerned High Court.

He also expressed regret that the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) never saw the light of day. The Supreme Court had struck down the NJAC Act as unconstitutional back in 2015.

Finally, Justice Pandey urged the PM to establish a system through which even a person from an ordinary background could become the Chief Justice of India with his capabilities, hard work and determination. He concluded his letter by asking PM Modi to restore the majesty of the judiciary.

Justice Pandey graduated in law from Allahabad University in 1979, and obtained a postgraduate degree in 1982. He was appointed as a District & Sessions Judge in 2014. He went on the serve as Principal Secretary (Judicial) for Uttar Pradesh government from 2016, until his elevation as an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court the following year. He was made a permanent judge of the High Court on September 17, 2018.

Read the notice of his reference:

Read the notice cancelling the reference: