Another retirement, Supreme Court vacancies to touch 10

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 13

With judicial vacancies galore in the Supreme Court and 25 high courts across India, questions are being raised over the functioning of the Collegium system under which judges appoint judges to the higher judiciary.

Revert to old system

If the Collegium can’t appoint judges in time, let’s revert to the old system of judicial appointment. — Vikas Singh, SCBA President

As on date, there are nine vacancies in the apex court, which has a sanctioned strength of 34 judges, including the Chief Justice of India. With another judge (Justice Navin Sinha) scheduled to demit office on August 18, judicial vacancies will rise to 10 in the SC where 69,476 cases are pending.

The Collegium consists of five senior-most judges, including the CJI, for appointment of judges to the SC, while it’s CJI plus two senior-most judges for clearing the names for appointment as HC judges.

The Collegium has failed to recommend names for appointment of judges to the SC after August 28, 2019. Justice RF Nariman, who demitted the office on Thursday, reportedly insisted on elevating two senior-most HC judges — Karnataka HC Chief Justice Abhay S Oka and Tripura HC Chief Justice Akil Kureshi — to the top court before any other names were cleared for the purpose.

Because of the stalemate, the Collegium led by then CJI SA Bobde could not recommend any names for elevation to the top court. After Justice Narimman’s retirement, the SC Collegium will consist of CJI NV Ramana, Justice UU Lalit, Justice AM Khanwilkar, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice LN Rao. Will the deadlock end?

Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Vikas Singh said, “The way the Collegium system is functioning, it’s better we revert to the old system as neither there is transparency nor are they able to decide names.”

He said the top court had failed to implement its verdict in the NJAC case that had specifically talked about having transparency in the Collegium’s functioning.

According to “Vacancy Positions” displayed on the Department of Justice website, 455 (41.43%) of 1,098 posts of judges are vacant in 25 high courts.

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