Last Updated on April 17, 2023 by Administrator
Former Supreme Court Justice J Chelameswar stated that in his dissenting opinion in the NJAC (National Judicial Appointments Commission) case, he never supported handing over the selection of judges to the executive. “I know the perils of it better than anyone else,” the former Supreme Court Justice stated. He was addressing at a lecture organised by the Kerala High Court Unit of the Bharatiya Abhibhashaka Parishad on Tuesday at the Kerala HC auditorium on the topic “Is Collegium Foreign To The Constitution?”
He stated in his dissenting opinion in the landmark NJAC decision, “These days, it is reported on TV and in the media that Chelameswar said hand over the reigns to the executive. That was not the matter before me; the question was whether Parliament possessed the constitutional authority to enact such an amendment, and if so, whether such an amendment would be consistent with the basic structure of the constitution. I answered yes to both questions. All I said in that decision was this.”
The former Supreme Court justice further stated that the idea that the collegium system is unlawful since it is not mentioned in the constitution is nonsensical.”A very renowned personality recently stated that the phrase collegium does not appear in the text of the constitution and hence it is unlawful.” Is there anything in the Constitution that mentions press freedom, my lawyer friends? If we accept this reasoning or rationale, many things, including journalistic freedom, will be lost.”
Concerned about the quality of judges chosen, he stated, “some judges are less efficient.” Some people are simply lazy and take years to write judgements. Today, if I say anything, I’ll be ridiculed the next day with questions like, “After retirement, why is he haunting the judiciary?”
Judge Chelameswar closed his presentation by emphasising the importance of shifting focus to reforming the judicial system. “No one is talking about the common man waiting for years in court corridors; why is this happening?” How can we make the system better? This is an issue that requires our attention.”
Written by: Srijan raj
