Supreme Court collegium issue needs wider consultation process: Salman Khurshid

Former Union Minister and Congress leader on Tuesday said that the ongoing issue raised by the central government over Supreme Court collegium needs a wider consultation process.

"I think the consultation process needs to be much wider. You have to first have a consultation among parties as differences on the judiciary amongst different political units are enormous. The government needs to talk to everybody on this matter," said Khurshid.

"Judges may not be the best people to consult but they are people you must consult. They are people who have worked on the idea of judiciary. We need to consult people who have worked in the Indian judicial system. Consultation is very important," he added.

The government has expressed the need to the method by which judges of the Supreme Court and High Court are selected. This matter gained more importance after it was reported that Karnataka High Court judge KL Manjunath had illegally bought a prime plot from a housing society in 2004 and also presided over cases involving the society.

The Supreme Court collegium had recommendation to elevate Manjunath as Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court but the NDA government had returned the collegium file, asking it to reconsider the elevation of KL Manjunath after these reports came into light. However, Manjunath is being backed by the judges' collegium for a promotion despite the central government's opposition.