Supreme Court Collegium To Make Recommendations Public

The Supreme Court today said all decisions taken by its five-member Collegium on matters of appointment, elevation and transfer of judges will henceforth be made public.

The decision was taken “to ensure transparency and yet maintain confidentiality in the Collegium system”, according to an official announcement uploaded on the apex court's website. The decision was taken in Collegium meeting held on October 3. The proposal was moved by Chief Justice of India Justice Dipak Misra, and was unanimously supported by the other four judges on the panel, the statement said.

Currently, the Supreme Court Collegium consists of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Justice J Chelameswar, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Kurian Joseph.

There have been consistent calls for more transparency in the appointment system of judges. As part of the Supreme Court judgement that found Justice CS Karnan guilty of contempt of court, two senior judges, who are members of the five-member Collegium, said there is an “unquestionable need” to review the process to appoint judges to Constitutional courts.

'”This case highlights two things, (1) the need to revisit the process of selection and appointment of judges to the constitutional courts, for that matter any member of the judiciary at all levels; and (2) the need to set up appropriate legal regime to deal with situations where the conduct of a Judge of a constitutional court requires corrective measures – other than impeachment – to be taken,” Justice Chelameswar and Justice Gogoi had said in their judgement in the Karnan case.

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