Judge must speak through judgment: Kiren Rijiju

New Delhi, November 25

Amid the ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court over appointment of Election Commissioners, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju today said a judge must speak through his judgment as observations could lead to a “difficult” situation.

EC appointment row

Union Law Minister says observations (by Supreme Court judges) could lead to a ‘difficult’ situation

“Then people will ask how did the Collegium select a particular person as a judge,” he said at a function, responding to a question on the Supreme Court wanting to know how the Law Minister had chosen a particular Election Commissioner. Rijiju said “commentary” by judges made headlines but the observations did not form part of the judgment.

The Supreme Court had on Thursday questioned the “haste” with which the Centre appointed former bureaucrat Arun Goel as Election Commissioner, saying his file had travelled at “lightning speed” within departments. The Union Government vehemently resisted the observations with Attorney General R Venkataramani contending the whole issue pertaining to the appointment needed to be viewed in entirety.