Law ministers differ on judicial commission

NEW DELHI: Union law minister HR Bhardwaj and his junior minister K Venkatapathy have divergent views on the necessity for a national judicial commission (NJC) for appointment of judges.

At a public function to mark Law Day on the supreme court premises here, Bhardwaj scotched reports on the setting up of an NJC. He in fact went to the extent of saying it would be the end of judiciary if there was an attempt to tinker with the present mode of appointment and removal of judges.

Venkatapathy, on the other hand, stressed the need for an NJC, saying, “The in-house procedure of the supreme court lacks transparency and accountability.”

He said, “It’s time we put a strong and effective mechanism in place capable of coming down heavily and quickly on errant judges.”

The supreme court no doubt has an “in-house procedure” to deal with allegations against judges, minister of state Venkatapathy regretted it “suffers from lack of transparency and accountability to the people who, in the ultimate analysis, are the sovereign masters of every creature of the Constitution”.

“This is where the establishment of an NJC assumes vital importance. The sooner it is brought into being, the better,” he said. In sharp contrast, Bhardwaj said, “I will not deviate from the three judgments (bestowing the power to appoint judges on the court).

There should be no controversy on it.”