Collegium system has worked fine, but govt can change it: CJI

Unfazed by the recent controversy over appointment of judges to higher judiciary, chief justice KG Balakrishnan said the collegium system has worked well.

However, he said, it was the government’s prerogative to make any departure from the collegium system — selection of judges by a panel of judges headed by the CJI — and bring forward changes. “We are just following the Supreme Court (SC) order which is binding on us. We strictly follow the procedure prescribed. Whether this should be changed is for the government and the Parliament to decide,” the CJI said.

In the collegium (system) whatever names have so far been recommended, “I think, to my knowledge, no names have been turned down by the executive in recent course,” Balakrishnan said. On whether the collegium’s word was the last word, he said “it cannot be the last word and the government can say that these names cannot be accepted”.

About the recent incident where the government asked the collegium to reconsider three names recommended for elevation to the SC, CJI said, “They have a right to say that”.

Even as per the 1993 SC decision, government can seek a second opinion from the
collegium and refuse to appoint a recommended name provided they give valid reasons.
“We can accept their reasons sometimes, some matters which may not be in the collegium’s knowledge,” he said.