Among the constitutional institutions designed to protect democracy, the Indian judiciary enjoys the highest status. The State, citizens and judicial institutions must prevent their independence from being weakened. To guarantee the democracy of the judicial system, a new collegiate system was established in 1993. The purpose of the collegiate system is to ensure that the opinions of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) are not his personal opinions, but are composed of the most honest judges in the judicial system. However, the efficiency of the collegiate system is questioned from time to time in terms of the independence and transparency of judicial appointments and other decisions. To maintain citizens’ confidence in the judiciary, the college must protect itself from further erosion of its independence by strictly abiding by the law.
WHAT IS THE COLLEGIUM SYSTEM?
Collegium System: It is a system of appointment and transfer of judges, developed through decisions of the Supreme Court and not through parliamentary bills or constitutional provisions. SC Academy is run by CJI and is comprised of the other four Superior Court Justices. An HC Academy is headed by its Chief Justice and the other four higher court justices.
Constitutional Provisions: Article 124 (2) of the Indian Constitution stipulates that the Supreme Court justices shall be appointed by the Chief Justice after consulting with judges The required number of state judges of the Supreme Court and the Superior Court.
According to article 217, the judges of the Superior Court will be appointed by the President after consulting with the CJI and the governor. In the case of appointments of judges other than the President of the Supreme Court, the Chief Judge of the Superior Court will be the court.
The role of government: The role of government is limited to the Intelligence Office Bureau (IB) which investigates whether lawyers should be promoted to judges in the Superior Court or the Supreme Court.
It can also challenge the choice of the college and seek clarification, but if the college reiterates the same name, the government is obliged to appoint them as judges by the ruling of the Constitutional Court.
A. BASIC ISSUES IN CONNECTION WITH COLLEGIUM SYSTEM.
Lack of transparency: Lack of written operating manuals, lack of selection criteria, and the decisions that have been made are arbitrarily reversed and the selective publication of the minutes of the meetings demonstrates the opacity of the university system.
No one knows how judges are selected, and the appointments made raise concerns about etiquette, self-selection and nepotism. The system often ignores several talented young judges and defenders.
NJAC, a missed opportunity: The National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) can ensure that the system is not affected by inappropriate politicization, improve the quality of appointments, and rebuild public confidence in the system.
The decision was rejected by the Supreme Court in 2015 because it represented a threat to judicial independence.
Lack of consensus among members: Members of the House of Commons often face issues of mutual consent regarding the appointment of judges.
The shadow of distrust among the members of the college exposed the boundaries of the judiciary.
For example, the recently retired CJI Sharad A. Bobde may be the first chief justice who did not make a single recommendation for an appointment as a judge of SC due to a lack of consensus among the members of the college.
Inequality of representation: Another area worthy of attention is the composition of the superior judiciary. Although there is no data on caste, the representation of women in high-level judicial institutions is quite underrepresented.
Delay in judicial appointments: The judicial appointment process was delayed due to the delay in the proposal of the House of Commons to the higher Judiciary.
· IMPORTANCE OF COLLEGIUM SYSTEM
The collet system enhances secrecy. Former Justice of the Supreme Court of India, Ruma Pal, said the system is one of the best-kept secrets in India. It is secreted inside the body's four walls for organs' proper and effective functioning in those opaque systems. The
Cole system separates the judiciary from politics. It separates from the influence of judicial administration and legislation. Government influence allows justice to work without fear or benefit of any kind. This ensures the regulation of the doctrine of separation of powers.
Political influences often cause Supreme Court judges to move. Thus, the powers conferred on the executive body to move judges reduce the independence of the judiciary and stop the judicial body from functioning effectively. To function fairly, the Collet system is optimal because it provides independence and allows judges to perform their duties without fear or interference or influence.
Enforcement agencies are not experts or have no knowledge of the judge's requirements compared to CJI. The collet system ensures that a worthy person sits in the position of a Supreme Court judge.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Maintaining Judicial Independence: Replenishment of vacancies is an ongoing and cooperative process of administrative and judicial participation.
However, the time has come to think of a permanent independent body to institutionalize processes with adequate safeguards to maintain judicial independence, which guarantees the supremacy of the judiciary but not the exclusivity of the judiciary.
There is a need to achieve independence, reflect the diversity and demonstrate professional competence and integrity.
Changes in the Nomination Procedure: Instead of selecting the number of judges required for a certain number of vacancies, universities should provide the President with a panel of possible names for appointment based on priority and other valid criteria.
Reconsideration of the Establishment of the NJAC: The Supreme Court may amend the NJAC Act to take the safeguards used in the Constitution and reorganize the NJAC to ensure that the judicial system retains majority rule in its decisions.
Ensuring Transparency: Collegium members must engage each other for a fresh start.
A transparent process adds a much-needed responsibility to resolving deadlocks.
Disagreements of personal opinion about certain names continue to occur, but care must be taken to ensure that our obligations under the judicial distribution system are not compromised.
CONCLUSION
It is of utmost importance that the judiciary, the main bastion of civil liberties, must be completely independent and separated from the direct and indirect influences of the administration. Identifying and selecting the highest innocent judge appointed by the Supreme Court of India is the minimum that can be done to ensure the independence of the Indian judicial system.