What is the collegium called?
Meaning of Collegium: The system under which judges are appointed to the Supreme Court in India is called the "collegium system". The NDA government had made this commission for the appointment of judges of the Supreme Court and High Court.
Let us know what is the collegium system?
- There is no mention of collegium system in the Indian Constitution, this system is neither mentioned in the original constitution nor in any of its amendments.
- The collegium system came into effect on 28 October 1998 through the decisions of the Supreme Court in the case of three judges.
- Under the collegium system, a committee consisting of the Chief Justice of India and four senior Supreme Court judges recommends the appointments and transfers of judges. It is necessary for the government to accept the recommendation of the collegium.
- Apart from this, which judges of the High Court will go to the Supreme Court after being promoted, it is also decided by the collegium.
What is the process of appointing judges in India?
In this post you will know why the collegium system is not good for the judicial system of India:-
Procedure for appointment of judges (judges) in India: The recommendation of the names of lawyers or judges to the central government is sent only through the collegium. Similarly, the central government also sends some of its proposed names to the collegium.
The names coming from the collegium are scrutinized/objections before the Center and the report is sent back to the collegium; The government suggests some names on its behalf. The collegium, after considering the new names suggested by the center and the objections of the center to the names of the collegium, sends the file to the center again.
In this way, this sequence of sending names to each other continues and the number of cases in the country increases day by day. When the collegium sends the name of a lawyer or judge to the central government "again", the center has to accept that name, but there is no time limit on how long it has to accept. Presently the same process is going on with the name of Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court KM Joseph and his appointment is stuck.
The Center had returned the recommendation of Justice Joseph's name to the collegium on April 26. Two judges of the five-member collegium were in favor of talking to the government on the issue. He said that if the collegium wants to send the recommendation of Joseph's name again, but it would be better to take a decision after considering the issues raised by the government while sending back the recommendation of his name. The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended the names of Joseph and Indu Malhotra together on January 10, but the government last week approved only Indu Malhotra's name. Joseph's name has been sent to the collegium for reconsideration.
Who is Justice KM Joseph?
Justice KM Joseph is the Chief Justice (Chief Justice) of the Uttarakhand High Court. He was appointed as a permanent judge in the Kerala High Court on 14 October 2004 and assumed the charge of the Uttarakhand High Court on 31 July 2014. He had rejected the Modi government's order to impose President's rule in Uttarakhand in 2016 and ordered the reinstatement of the Harish Rawat government. For your information, let us tell you that 36% of the posts of judges trapped with both the collegium and the center are vacant.
At present (till 2018) there are 395 vacancies in 24 High Courts of India and 6 posts of Judges in Supreme Court. For the last two years, 146 names are stuck for appointment in the courts due to lack of approval between the Supreme Court and the government. Out of these, 36 names are pending with the Supreme Court Collegium, while 110 names are yet to be approved by the Central Government.
When was the NJAC constituted?
The NJAC was constituted by the UPA government on 15 August 2014 in place of the collegium system but the Supreme Court on 16 October 2015 declared the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act unconstitutional. Thus, even at present, the appointment and transfers of judges are decided by the collegium system of the Supreme Court. The National Judicial Appointments Commission was to be constituted with the help of 6 members, with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to be its head.
In this, there was talk of including 2 senior judges of the Supreme Court, Law Minister and 2 eminent personalities from different fields as members. The 2 people who were said to be included in the NJAC (National Judicial Appointments Commission), the election of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha or in the absence of the Leader of the Opposition, the largest opposition in the Lok Sabha A committee consisting of the leader of the party. The Supreme Court had the biggest objection to this.
Now practice related questions and see what you learnt?
☞ Collegium System GK Questions and Answers 🔗
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Collegium System FAQs:
The judges appointed to the Supreme Court do not have a fixed tenure. They hold office until they reach the retirement age of 65, unless they resign or are removed earlier for reasons specified in the constitution.
The age limit for the appointment of a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is 65 years. After this they have to take the decision of retirement. This rule is prescribed in the Indian Constitution.
In the International Court of Justice, 15 judges are elected by the General Assembly. These judges are elected for nine years and can be re-elected. Five of these 15 judges can be elected every three years.
Only the President can remove him on the basis of a resolution passed by both the Houses of the Parliament. The Constitution has a very complicated procedure for the removal of a judge of the Supreme Court or a High Court.
The Supreme Court of the country consists of 33 judges including the Chief Justice. These judges remain in office till the age of 65 years.