Is judicial scrutiny of Collegium decisions permissible? Supreme Court answers

The Supreme Court on Friday held that limited judicial scrutiny of Collegium decisions is permissible to determine whether the decision taken by the Collegium was done after effective and collective consultation of its members [Chirag Bhanu Singh and anr v. State of Himachal Pradesh and ors].A Bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Prashant Kumar Mishra explained that a plea seeking examination of a High Court Collegium's decision is maintainable in this regard since such consultation amongst all members of Collegium is a procedural requirement."This scrutiny has nothing to do with the ‘merits’ or the ‘suitability’ of the officers in question but to verify whether ‘effective consultation’ was made. Such scrutiny is permissible within the limited scope of judicial review," the Court said..The Bench summed up the following legal principles that emerged from precedents on the subject:i) ‘Lack of effective consultation’ and ‘eligibility’ falls within the scope of judicial reviewii) ‘Suitability’ is non-justiciable and resultingly, the ‘content of consultation’ falls beyond the scope of judicial review.However, the Supreme Court underscored that the process of judicial appointments is not the prerogative of a single individual."It is a collaborative and participatory process involving all Collegium members. The underlying principle is that the process of appointment of judges must reflect the collective wisdom that draws from diverse perspectives. Such a process ensures that principles of transparency and accountability are maintained," it observed..The observations were made in a verdict granting relief to two District Judges from Himachal Pradesh, Chirag Bhanu Singh and Arvind Malhotra.Their candidatures for elevation to the Himachal Pradesh High Court were directed to be decided afresh by the High Court Collegium..The two judges had moved the apex court alleging that the High Court Collegium had overlooked their merit and seniority, and superseded them for elevation to the High Court.The top court agreed with the petitioners, and held that the decision of the High Court Collegium was taken by the Chief Justice alone and there was no consultation with other members of the Collegium.Hence, it directed the High Court collegium to reexamine the candidature of the two petitioners..Senior Advocate Arvind Datar and advocates Bina Madhavan, S Udaya Kumar Sagar, Shreyasi Kunwar, Shubhangi Arora, Niharika Tanneru, briefed by a team from Lawyer S Knit & Co appeared for the judges.Senior Advocates Dr. S Muralidhar and K Parameshwar along with advocates Kanti, Shreenivas Patil, Chitransha Singh Sikarwar and Raji Gururaj appeared for the Himachal Pradesh High Court..[Read judgment]