Mediaboss Marketing

The collegium also faces other daunting issues like proportionate representation and seniority of High Court judges being elevated to the Supreme Court. The new Chief Justice of India will have to break the wall of distrust within the collegium, that might have prevented a consensus on elevating High Court judges during the last 14 months. He will also be required to assure the country that the best legal minds are indeed being elevated to the higher judiciary as judges.

Adequate representation of women and minorities on the bench of the Supreme Court is another issue that needs to be addressed urgently. The apex court currently has just one woman as judge, and given that virtually half the population comprise women and also because gender sensitive cases have seen a sharp rise, there is a strong case for many more women judges in the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court has only one Muslim judge and no Sikh, Buddhist, Jain or an Adivasi. This is also a matter of grave concern. The Court is an institution of governance that needs to maintain public trust. Should not the minority communities have better and higher representation on the Bench, especially when there is evidence that a disproportionate number of these minorities are victims of the state and the judicial system?

These communities deserve a fair representation in the Apex Court. The collegium is duty-bound to diversify the Bench to give adequate representation to all sections of society so that public trust, which is the greatest strength of the judiciary, could be restored. In addition to this, the perception, if not the reality, that only a few dominant castes/communities monopolise the Bench of the higher judiciary needs to be dispelled.

The new Chief Justice of India and the Supreme Court collegium will also have to take up the issue of recommendations pending with the central government. The central government has no justification for sitting over the recommendations for appointment of judges for an indefinite and prolonged period of time. As per media reports, hundreds of names are pending with the central government for elevation to the High Courts. They need to be cleared without further delay. Nothing can justify delaying judicial appointments. The government has always enjoyed the right to communicate its reservations, if any, to the collegium with a request for reconsideration. The collegium will hopefully also take a stand against the central government segregating recommendations made by the collegium, accepting some and rejecting others. The central government has no such power to segregate the recommendations of the collegium without taking it into confidence.

Original post:
The new CJI has a long to-do list before him - National Herald