Live Law: Nagpur: Saturday,
September 10, 2016.
In a letter,
leading activists have urged Chief Justice of India Justice TS Thakur to ensure
greater transparency in judicial appointments.
The letter
states: “The Supreme Court has played a seminal role in recognising and
furthering people’s right to information. Through various judicial
pronouncements, the court has held that the right to information is a
fundamental right flowing from Article 19 of the Constitution and that
transparency in the working of public functionaries is critical in a democracy.
It is, therefore, a matter of deep concern and anguish to us that the Supreme
Court appears reluctant to be transparent and accountable to the citizens of
the country.”
“The refusal
of Justice Chelameswar to attend meetings of the collegium on the grounds that
its functioning lacks transparency to the extent that even some members of the
collegium are unaware of the basis on which judicial appointments are made,
points to the deep malaise that afflicts the judicial appointment process. His
views have been echoed by other legal luminaries, including former CJIs. Such a
state of affairs erodes public trust in the institution which billions of
Indians look towards to uphold democratic principles and deliver justice,” it
states.
The letter
urges the Chief Justice to ensure transparency in the process of appointment of
judges by undertaking necessary measures, including:
1.
Making the eligibility criteria and process for selection
of judges public.
2.
Setting up a broad-based search committee along the lines
of the search committee envisaged in the Lokpal & Lokayuktas Act, 2013, to
assist the collegium in shortlisting appropriate candidates. The search
committee could predominantly consist of judicial members. The committee should
issue an advertisement inviting eligible people to apply and should also have
the freedom to employ other methods they deem appropriate to search out
potential candidates.
3.
Making names of shortlisted candidates public, along with
all available details, including details of how they satisfy the eligibility
criteria, why they were selected over those who were not, and their background
details such as asset declarations etc., at least eight weeks before the
collegium meets to finalise the appointment of judges. This would afford people
an opportunity to send in relevant information or objections to the proposed
appointments.
4.
Putting in place an appropriate procedure to maintain
minutes of all meetings of the collegium. The minutes must record reasons for
decisions taken and dissenting opinions, if any.
5.
After the appointments have been made, the minutes of the
meetings of the collegium should be made public in compliance with sections
4(1)(c) and 4(1)(d) of the RTI Act.
The
signatories include Anjali Bhardwaj, co-convener, National Campaign for
People’s Right to Information; Shekhar Singh, RTI activist; Aruna Roy, RTI
activist; Nikhil Dey, co-convener, National Campaign for People’s Right to
Information; & MKSS Wajahat Habibullah, former Chief Information
Commissioner, Central Information Commission; Satyanand Mishra, former Chief
Information Commissioner, Central Information Commission; Shailesh Gandhi,
former Information Commissioner, Central Information Commission; Prashant
Bhushan, convener, Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms; Harsh
Mander, director, Centre for Equity Studies, and Maja Daruwala, director,
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.
Earlier this
week, former CIC Shailesh Gandhi, in an open letter to the CJI, had urged him
to recognise Justice Chelameswar’s signal contribution to the Indian democracy
and to take the opportunity to bring transparency to the judiciary and accept
that mistakes may be made in all fields.
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