Govt To Assert Right To Appoint Judges: Khalap

The government is thinking of amending the Constitution to assert the supremacy of the executive in the appointment of judges and is considering some steps to curb the profligacy in public interest litigation choking the judicial system.

Minister of state for law Ramakant Khalap said in an interview yesterday that there were two options before the government in the matter of appointment of judges in the light of the nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court, asserting that the judiciary should have the ultimate say.

The government could either appoint a judicial commission consisting of the Chief Justice of India, the Prime Minister, law minister and the attorney general for selection of judges or revert to the pre-1993 situation when the executive had the primacy.

 

In either case the government will have to approach Parliament for the amendment of the Constitution. Governments thinking on the interpretation of the judiciary is in consonance with the spirit of the Constitution, he said.

The minister said the government would consult political parties for evolving a consensus on the issue during the coming session of Parliament when it planned to introduce the measure.

Consultations with parties would also cover proposals for legislations on curbing public interest litigation and various aspects of judicial and electoral reforms.

Khalap said that the government was aware of the concern expressed over the Supreme Court interpretation of Article 124(2) of the Constitution, which spoke of consultation with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for appointment of judges for the apex court and the high courts, but which the court has held as meaning concurrence with the judiciary.

The consequence of such an interpretation would be that the process of appointment of judges would also be initiated by the judiciary as was being done since 1993 which was not the intention of the constitution makers.

Therefore the question now is whether we go back to the situation when the primacy of the executive is re-established. It is for Parliament to decide, the minister said.

Expressing concern over the huge backlog of cases, estimated to be around three crore, across the courts in the country, the law minister said public interest litigation (PIL) was being resorted to by some people in a most indiscriminate man ner.