Collegium was devised with best interest of the country in mind but power tends to corrupt: Justice Jasti Chelameswar

Former Supreme Court Justice Jasti Chelameswar on Tuesday said that the Collegium system of appointing judges was devised by the Supreme Court keeping in mind the best interest of the country but power tends to corrupt..He added that the collegium system was merely a name given to an existing system of selecting judges, and that the Second Judges Case only formalized this system. According to him, the Second Judges Case attempted to impose discipline on the selection process of judges."The judges who wrote this judgment only wanted the best for the country. But unfortunately power tends to corrupt. Abusing power is corruption on the system. Whether it is legislative executive or judicial power, power is power. In this process collegium system created a lot of problems which I put on record (in NJAC judgement)," he stated.He was referring to his dissenting judgment in the NJAC case in which he had upheld NJAC which sought to replace the Collegium system. Justice Chelameswar was delivering the inaugural address at the National seminar on the topic of "Is Collegium Alien To The Constitution", organised by the Bharatheeya Abhibhashaka Parishad Kerala at the Kerala High Court.Referring to a book authored by Dr. Abhinav Chandrachud, in which he discusses a Madhya Pradesh High Court judge whose elevation was recommended thrice but not accepted by the government, Justice Chelameswar explained that it was in this context that the collegium system was established."For some time govt was not clearing the names recommended by the judges of the collegium. I read a book recently which was authored by the son of the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud. He speaks about a judgment given by Madhya Pradesh judge and his elevation was recommended three times but the government refused to accept it. It is in this background that the collegium system came to be," he said..Interestingly, the former judge also said that a "very eminent personality's" recent argument that the Constitution does not contain the word "collegium" and therefore, the collegium system is illegal, is not correct.."A very eminent personality recently said that the text of the constitution does not contain the word collegium and therefore it is illegal. My friends, who are all lawyers, is there anything in the constitution which says freedom of press ? If this argument is accepted all such things, including freedom of press, can go," he said.He argued that freedom of press is not mentioned in the Constitution either but is still guaranteed under it..He was likely referring to the Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, who in November 2022, had said that the word "collegium" was alien to the Indian Constitution.