Express News Service
NEW DELHI: In a plea seeking appointment of members of the Election Commission by a collegium comprising PM, CJI and leaders of the opposition, the Supreme Court’s constitution bench on Thursday said that it will not encroach on the right of the Parliament to make appointments. Currently, the appointment to the members of ECI is made by the President under Article 324(2) of the Constitution subject to the law made by the Parliament.
Responding to the submissions made by the counsel who pushed for the appointment of the members by way of the collegium, the five-judge bench headed by Justice KM Joseph said, “Sum and substance of your case is, we need to fill the gaps. That’s where we can step in. We cannot encroach of the right of the Parliament.”
The bench was considering a plea filed by Anoop Baranwal wherein he had also sought for equal protection Chief Election Commissioners (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) and for a common procedure of removal. Remarking that the current system pertaining to the appointment of members has been “prevalent for more than 70 years”, the bench wondered “what necessity has now arisen for approaching this Court to lay down what the Government should follow in making ECI appointments?”
During the course of the hearing, the bench also stated that the collegium was competent to make judicial appointments since they knew the responsibilities of judges well. “Can judges know and assess the credentials of Election Commissioners?” the court also asked.
Asserting that doubts have been raised by the citizens regarding the independence of the Election Commission, advocate Prashant Bhushan said, “Selection should be by a body which is totally neutral. Collegium is one possibility, which selects judges. Selection should be in the hands of a body which is totally neutral.” He suggested that the selection of the members should be by a neutral body and it could not be left in the hands of the government alone.
“The appointment is by the President but we don’t know the process. Cabinet recommends the name and the President appoints. Is the President active? I highly doubt,” senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan said.
Also in top court
Godman seeks parity with Rajiv case convictsSelf-styled godman Shraddhananda, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife Shakereh Namazi, has moved the Supreme Court seeking released from prison like the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Alleging that his is a classic case of violation of the right to equality, Shraddhananda said he has already spent over 29 years in jail without getting a single day’s parole.
‘Plea on collegium to be listed soon’The SC on Thursday agreed to list in due course a plea related to reconsidering the collegium system of judicial appointments to the SC and the HCs. The plea sought the revival of the National Judicial Appointments Commission, which gave the government an equal role.
‘Everybody is impressed with Guj’“Everybody is impressed with Gujarat”, a bench of Justices M R Shah and M M Sundresh remarked on Thursday after Uttar Pradesh Additional Advocate General informed it about the state striving to adopt the Gujarat model to improve infrastructure for commercial courts.
NEW DELHI: In a plea seeking appointment of members of the Election Commission by a collegium comprising PM, CJI and leaders of the opposition, the Supreme Court’s constitution bench on Thursday said that it will not encroach on the right of the Parliament to make appointments. Currently, the appointment to the members of ECI is made by the President under Article 324(2) of the Constitution subject to the law made by the Parliament.
Responding to the submissions made by the counsel who pushed for the appointment of the members by way of the collegium, the five-judge bench headed by Justice KM Joseph said, “Sum and substance of your case is, we need to fill the gaps. That’s where we can step in. We cannot encroach of the right of the Parliament.”
The bench was considering a plea filed by Anoop Baranwal wherein he had also sought for equal protection Chief Election Commissioners (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) and for a common procedure of removal. Remarking that the current system pertaining to the appointment of members has been “prevalent for more than 70 years”, the bench wondered “what necessity has now arisen for approaching this Court to lay down what the Government should follow in making ECI appointments?”
During the course of the hearing, the bench also stated that the collegium was competent to make judicial appointments since they knew the responsibilities of judges well. “Can judges know and assess the credentials of Election Commissioners?” the court also asked.
Asserting that doubts have been raised by the citizens regarding the independence of the Election Commission, advocate Prashant Bhushan said, “Selection should be by a body which is totally neutral. Collegium is one possibility, which selects judges. Selection should be in the hands of a body which is totally neutral.” He suggested that the selection of the members should be by a neutral body and it could not be left in the hands of the government alone.
“The appointment is by the President but we don’t know the process. Cabinet recommends the name and the President appoints. Is the President active? I highly doubt,” senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan said.
Also in top court
Godman seeks parity with Rajiv case convicts
Self-styled godman Shraddhananda, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife Shakereh Namazi, has moved the Supreme Court seeking released from prison like the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Alleging that his is a classic case of violation of the right to equality, Shraddhananda said he has already spent over 29 years in jail without getting a single day’s parole.
‘Plea on collegium to be listed soon’
The SC on Thursday agreed to list in due course a plea related to reconsidering the collegium system of judicial appointments to the SC and the HCs. The plea sought the revival of the National Judicial Appointments Commission, which gave the government an equal role.
‘Everybody is impressed with Guj’
“Everybody is impressed with Gujarat”, a bench of Justices M R Shah and M M Sundresh remarked on Thursday after Uttar Pradesh Additional Advocate General informed it about the state striving to adopt the Gujarat model to improve infrastructure for commercial courts.
