The Supreme Court has referred to the Chief Justice of India 10 important questions for review of the existing the collegium system on appointment of the top court and high court judges to be considered by a larger Constitution bench while the government has supported the move.
Dealing with a PIL, which the top court registry had suggested to be placed before a nine-judge Constitution bench, Justices Deepak Verma and B.S. Chauhan in an order recorded that since they did not have power to refer a matter to the Constitution bench they were requesting CJI S.H. Kapadia to take appropriate steps in this regard.
Attorney-General Goolam E. Vahanvati and senior advocate A.K. Ganguly, appointed as amicus curiae (a lawyer to assist the court), also supported the 10 questions for review of the collegium system.
Amicus curiae, who redrafted the questions for consideration by the top court, has strongly recommended the review of the collegium system.
The 10 questions include whether the top court has power under Article 124(2) of the Constitution dealing with the appointment of judges as has done by it by the 1993 and 1998 verdicts by the benches of seven judges and nine judges, respectively, giving the collegium power to appoint the judges, whether the Constitution permits the system of collegium, whether the Constitution could at all be amended by any judicial verdict.
Whether the Constitution scheme provides for mutual consultation between the executive and judiciary for appointment of SC and HC judges, whether consultation under the constitutional provisions means concurrence, whether by judicial interpretations words in the Constitution can be made redundant.
By the 1993 verdict of a seven-judge bench, the SC had usurped upon itself the powers to appoint the judges of the apex court and high courts and the judgement was reiterated by a larger bench of nine judges in 1998.