The hearing in the batch of petitions challenging the Constitutionality of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) took a new turn today..The Court will now decide the issue of whether Judges who are part of the Collegium or the NJAC can hear the matter..The decision to hear out this issue first before going into the merits was taken today after a few petitioners objected to the presence of Justice JS Khehar on the Bench. Justice Khehar is part of the Collegium and will also take over as Chief Justice of India a few years down the line. Hence, allegations of conflict of interest were raised by a few petitioners..When the hearing commenced today, Senior Advocate Fali Nariman appearing for Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association pointed out that Justice Khehar is part of the Collegium. He was, however not categorical on whether Justice Khehar should recuse from the case or not and told Justice Khehar to take the opinion of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi into consideration..“Why should I ask anybody? If you think that I should not be hearing the case why the hell should I ask for anybody else’ view?”, retorted Justice Khehar..Justice Khehar also said that when he was put on the Bench to hear the case he had written to CJI Dattu saying that he will not participate in Collegium or NJAC proceedings till the case is decided..Meanwhile, lawyers for three State governments – Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan – were also present for today’s hearing. Senior Advocate KK Venugopal, who is representing the State of Madhya Pradesh in the case, said that it was unfortunate to have asked Justice Anil Dave to recuse from the hearing. He told Justice Khehar that,.“He should be asked again if he is willing to be part of the Bench. If he says ‘no’ then we will be happy to have you on the Bench.”.Senior Advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the State of Gujarat, vehemently opposed the pressure being put on the Bench in recent times to recuse from various cases. He said,.“This whole approach is wrong. The Court has become oversensitive. Things which were never said in this Court are now being said freely. Your lordships are performing two Constitutional duties and there is nothing wrong in it. Please lay down a parameter that any judge can hear the case and then let the CJI decide who should be part of the Bench.”.Nariman then requested that this issue about who should hear the case should be decided by a separate Bench comprising the CJI and the 4 Senior most judges of the Supreme Court. The Court, however, turned this down and said that the same Bench will hear and decide the issue tomorrow. Justice Khehar also requested both parties to complete their arguments in a day so that the matter can be decided as early as possible. He suggested that only three lawyers from each side argue the case which was agreed to by the parties..The case will now be taken up at 10.30 AM tomorrow..Senior Advocate K Parasaran was also present in the Court today. He will be representing the State of Rajasthan.
The hearing in the batch of petitions challenging the Constitutionality of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) took a new turn today..The Court will now decide the issue of whether Judges who are part of the Collegium or the NJAC can hear the matter..The decision to hear out this issue first before going into the merits was taken today after a few petitioners objected to the presence of Justice JS Khehar on the Bench. Justice Khehar is part of the Collegium and will also take over as Chief Justice of India a few years down the line. Hence, allegations of conflict of interest were raised by a few petitioners..When the hearing commenced today, Senior Advocate Fali Nariman appearing for Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association pointed out that Justice Khehar is part of the Collegium. He was, however not categorical on whether Justice Khehar should recuse from the case or not and told Justice Khehar to take the opinion of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi into consideration..“Why should I ask anybody? If you think that I should not be hearing the case why the hell should I ask for anybody else’ view?”, retorted Justice Khehar..Justice Khehar also said that when he was put on the Bench to hear the case he had written to CJI Dattu saying that he will not participate in Collegium or NJAC proceedings till the case is decided..Meanwhile, lawyers for three State governments – Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan – were also present for today’s hearing. Senior Advocate KK Venugopal, who is representing the State of Madhya Pradesh in the case, said that it was unfortunate to have asked Justice Anil Dave to recuse from the hearing. He told Justice Khehar that,.“He should be asked again if he is willing to be part of the Bench. If he says ‘no’ then we will be happy to have you on the Bench.”.Senior Advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the State of Gujarat, vehemently opposed the pressure being put on the Bench in recent times to recuse from various cases. He said,.“This whole approach is wrong. The Court has become oversensitive. Things which were never said in this Court are now being said freely. Your lordships are performing two Constitutional duties and there is nothing wrong in it. Please lay down a parameter that any judge can hear the case and then let the CJI decide who should be part of the Bench.”.Nariman then requested that this issue about who should hear the case should be decided by a separate Bench comprising the CJI and the 4 Senior most judges of the Supreme Court. The Court, however, turned this down and said that the same Bench will hear and decide the issue tomorrow. Justice Khehar also requested both parties to complete their arguments in a day so that the matter can be decided as early as possible. He suggested that only three lawyers from each side argue the case which was agreed to by the parties..The case will now be taken up at 10.30 AM tomorrow..Senior Advocate K Parasaran was also present in the Court today. He will be representing the State of Rajasthan.
