‘Collegium system is by the court, for the court, of the court’: Pro-RSS journal

New Delhi, December 16

Close on the heels of Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar terming the Supreme Court’s 2015 judgment striking down the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill as a disregard of people’s mandate, RSS mouthpiece ‘Panchjanya’ on Friday questioned judicial appointments through the Collegium system and batted for a new regime.

“Does separation of powers mean unquestioned freedom for one side to do what it wants? No one has given the court the right to appoint its own through the Collegium system. This right is a right by the court, of the court, for the court,” the journal said today.

Referring to comments about the issue, made by V-P Dhankhar in his maiden Parliament speech, and the routine refrain of the Union Law Minister about appointments through the Collegium, Panchjanya in its cover story said, “The argument of separation of powers and the need for checks and balance is good. But what does this really mean? The courts have in reality exercised power unilaterally in many cases, from seeking details of weapon systems bought by the government to holding court past midnight to hear some petitions,” the RSS journal said in an oblique reference to the 2015 midnight hearing in which the apex court rejected the last ditch attempt of 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon to avert his execution.

Panchjanya also flagged lack of access to justice for Hindi-speaking petitioners saying, “The reality is that hearings in the apex court and the high courts happen only in English.”