Questions over delay: 

Questions over delay: 

Context:

• With rising commotion in the Indian judiciary system, there should be no further delay in finalizing the MoP for the appointment of judges in the higher judiciary.
• The MoP is on hold since 2015 owing to lack of consensus on several fronts between the judiciary and the government.

What is The National Judicial Appointments Commission?

• The 99th Constitutional amendment was introduced to propose National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC) to replace the collegiums system for the appointment of judges as invoked by the Supreme Court.
• The Parliament also passed the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014, to regulate the NJAC’s functions.
• The NJAC will be responsible for making binding recommendations to the President for the appointment of judges as to the Supreme Court and High Courts.

Procedures for the selection of the Judges of the higher judiciary according to National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014:

• The National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014, had laid down the following procedures for the selection of the Judges of the higher judiciary:

Supreme Court judges:

• Chief Justice of India: The Commission shall recommend the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court for appointment as Chief Justice of India.
• This is provided he/she is considered fit to hold the office.
• Supreme Court Judges: The Commission shall recommend names of persons on the basis of their ability, merit and other criteria specified in the regulations.
• The Commission shall not recommend a person for appointment if any two of its members do not agree to such recommendation.

High Courts judges:

• Chief Justices of High Courts: The Commission shall recommend a Judge of a High Court to be the Chief Justice of a High Court on the basis of seniority across High Court judges.
• The ability, merit and other criteria of suitability as specified in the regulations would also be considered.
• Appointment of other High Court Judges: The Commission shall seek nominations from Chief Justice of the concerned High Court for appointments of High Court Judges or forward a list of such names to the Chief Justice of the concerned High Courts for his/her views.
• In both cases, the Chief Justice of the High Court shall consult two senior most judges of that High Court and any other judges and advocates as specified in the regulations.
• The Commission shall elicit the views of the Governor and Chief Minister of the state before making recommendations.
• The Commission shall not recommend a person for appointment if any two members of the Commission do not agree to such recommendations.

What is the Collegium System?

• The Collegium system is one where the Chief Justice of India and a forum of four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court recommend appointment and transfers of judges.
• It has no place in the Indian Constitution.
• The system was evolved through Supreme Court Judgment in the Three Judges Case.

Members:

• The Supreme Court collegium is headed by the Chief Justice of India and comprises four other seniormost judges of the court.
• A High Court collegium is led by its Chief Justice and four other senior most judges of that court.

What is the three judge case?

• According to first judges case chief justice of India does not have primacy over executive in the matter of appointment of judges of Supreme Court and High Courts.
• Second judges case decision made the judiciary the ‘de facto’ appointing authority of themselves curtailing the power of council of ministers under Article 74(1).
• In third judges case, nine judge Bench again confirmed that the opinion of the collegiums of judges have primacy in appointing  and transfer of judges of higher judiciary. In light of this decision detailed Memorandum of Procedure was prepared, which took the form of present collegiums system.

What problems Indian judiciary is facing today?

• Lack of judges piles up a significant amount of cases which gets unnoticed for years.
• Lack of judges and inefficient management is the reason behind delay in justice delivery.
• Inadequate data on pending cases and lack of scientific maintenance of data makes it difficult to analyse problems and propose sustainable solutions for the judiciary.
• Judicial proceedings are prohibitively expensive which is a major drawback for the under privileged one.
• Judiciary lacks expertise in dealing with new age problems like Corp Tax, Cyber laws, International treaties, Climate change and its conservative attitude is exploited and corrupt go scot free.
• Corruption is also a major issue in judicial system as it is any other government department especially in lower courts increasing transparency and accountability corruption can be bought down.
• Absence of separate Commercial Courts to adjudicate on disputes of civil nature resulting in large number of pending civil suits related to various business and services related disputes in the high courts.

Way ahead:

• The task of filling vacancies would be better served if a revised Memorandum of Procedure for appointments is agreed upon soon.
• A screening system, along with a permanent secretariat for the collegium, would be ideal for the task.
• The introduction of transparency should be backed by a continuous process of addressing perceived shortcomings. The present disclosure norm is a commendable beginning.
• Judges need to be careful of in their discharge of duties, punctuality.
• Transparent appointment process, e-gov, judicial accountability and All India Judicial Service can be starting points in the much needed reformation.