New Delhi: Former Supreme Court judge Sanjay Kishan Kaul said it will be “unrealistic” to say that the collegium system is working smoothly and one has to accept that their lies a problem, news agency PTI reported.
In an interview with the news agency on Friday, the former judge said, “If people say it (collegium) works smoothly, that would be unrealistic in a sense because that is not a fact. That is reflected by the number of appointments which remain pending. Even till today, certain names which have been recommended, are pending. We have to accept that there is a problem in the system. If we close our eyes to the problem we will not come to a solution. You must acknowledge the problem first and then only you can come up with a solution.”
Flagging “friction” in the functioning of the collegium, Justice Kaul said it is evident from the number of pending appointments.
He further said that the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC), which got enacted after PM Narendra Modi assumed office in 2014, was never given a chance to work, and this led to angst among the political circles and friction within the collegium.
Notably, the NJAC was given the responsibility of making judicial appointments. It comprised the Chief Justice of India, two senior Supreme Court judges, Union Law Minister and two other persons nominated by the CJI, prime minister and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
However, in October 2015, the top court struck down the NJAC Act holding it unconstitutional.
“When it was struck down there was angst in political circles that a unanimous decision of Parliament had been struck down like this and the judges are not letting the system change. That has brought some friction in the working of the (collegium) system post the NJAC,” the former judge told PTI.
Speaking on the issue of judges taking up assignment even after retirement, Justice Kaul said the matter should be best left to the discretion of the retired judges. He, however, said was not interested in taking up any assignment.
Sanjay Kishan Kaul, the senior-most judge after Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, retired on December 25.