Collegium system of judges appointment opaque: Chelameswar J

The Collegium system of judges appointment is "opaque" which needs "transparency", Supreme Court judge Justice J Chelameswar today said.
He said the assumption that "primacy of the judiciary" in the appointment of judges is a basic feature of Constitution "is empirically flawed."
The lone judge in the five-judge Constitution Bench to uphold the validity of the Constitution (Ninety-ninth Amendment) Act, 2014, paving way for the National Judicial Appintment Commission Act, 2014 (NJAC), said proceedings of the collegium were absolutely "opaque and inaccessible" to the people at large.
"Transparency is a vital factor in constitutional governance. This court in innumerable cases noted that constitutionalism demands rationality in every sphere of state action...

"Transparency is an aspect of rationality. The need for transparency is more in the case of appointment process. Proceedings of the collegium were absolutely opaque and inaccessible both to public and history, barring occasional leaks," Chelameswar said.
The Supreme Court judge said that in the last 20 years, after advent of collegium system, number of recommendations made by the collegia of High Courts were rejected by the collegium of the Supreme Court.

He said there were cases where the apex court collegium "retraced its steps" after rejecting recommendations of a particular name suggested by the High Court collegium giving scope for a great deal of "speculation".

"There is no accountability in this regard. The records are absolutely beyond the reach of any person including the judges of this Court who are not lucky enough to become the Chief Justice of India. Such a state of affairs does not either enhance the credibility of the institution or good for the people of this country.
"For all the above mentioned reasons, I would uphold the Amendment. However, in view of the majority decision, I do not see any useful purpose in examining the constitutionality of the Act," the judge said.