The Supreme Court in the case observed and has agreed to constitute a bench to hear the petitions raising concerns with regards to the collegium system in place for the appointment of judges in the Supreme Court and Higher Judiciary.
The bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud was hearing the petition moved by one Advocate for urgent listing.
The Advocate stated before the court that the recently retired judge Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul had highlighted ‘faults’ in the present collegium system in his interview to the PTI in December 2023.
The bench headed by CJI agreed to constitute a bench.
The court stated that Justice S.K. Kaul in his interview with the PTI highlighted how the present collegium system is facing internal ‘frictions’. Thus, having been the part of the collegium system himself, he explained that the striking down of the National Judicial Appointments Commission, NJAC Act by the Apex Court in 2015 led to angst amongst the political circles who had unanimously passed the law which is now being affected in the ‘smoothness’ of the working of the collegium.
Further, Justice S.K. Kaul stated that the pending appointments of the names as recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium to the Government are a ‘reflection’ of this present friction.