Soli Sorabjee objects exclusivity in appointment of judges

Former attorney general Soli Sorabjee today said the appointment of a judge should not be exclusive to the judiciary and that the commission must include people from other fields as well.

"You must include government executives, the civil society and other independent people while appointing a judge, but the judiciary will definitely have an edge as judges are in a much better position to access the suitability. But it should not be exclusive, that is the main point," Sorabjee said to ANI0.

"If you look at the provisions of the bill, it depends on the composition of the commission. Unfortunately, today, under the collegium system, only the judiciary appoints the judges, making it exclusive, which should not be the case," he added.

Earlier today, a bill to replace collegium system of appointment of judges was introduced in Lok Sabha. The government had earlier expressed the need to change the method by which judges of the Supreme Court and High Court are selected.

This matter gained more importance after it was reported that Karnataka High Court judge K.L Manjunath had illegally bought a prime plot from a housing society in 2004 and also presided over cases involving the society.

The Supreme Court collegium had recommended Manjunath be elevated to Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court but the NDA government had returned the collegium file, asking it to reconsider the elevation of KL Manjunath after these reports came into light.