Appointment of judges should also be made transparent

17 September, 2012

A controversial Supreme Court on last Thursday ruled that the Central Information Commission and State Information Commission will be headed by judges. Aimed at inducing transparency, the decision makes sure that retired bureaucrats will no longer head these statutory bodies.

IT IS like rooting leaves rather than roots when appointment-process of judges is totally non-transparent. Justice AK Patnaik having been a member of the Division Bench has himself become a victim of such non-transparent system, as he wasn't elevated to Supreme Court till a particular collegium-member retired from the apex court.

Judges also are normal human beings coming from the same society, which has both good and bad people. A retired Chief Justice of India could not be found fit to chair National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Are retired judges not misused to favour political ideologies and interests like happened in infamous petrol-pump allotment-scandal.

Several judges are active politicians even before being appointed judges, and many of them join politics after retirement. Political rulers misuse respected name of judiciary by having retired judges of their own ideology in judicial commissions. Infamous Godhra train-burning incident is a case in point when retired judges appointed by Union Railway Ministry and Gujarat government gave different findings according to requirements of political rulers.

Supreme Court should first initiate suo-motto move to refine appointing process of judges in higher courts with so many charges levelled against some of them, and also make the process transparent like the one for information commissioners.

National Judicial Commission should be constituted with retired Supreme Court judges as its member-nominees of the President, Prime Minister, Opposition Leader, Chief Justice of India, Bar Council with Chief Vigilance Commissioner as ex-officio member for appointment of judges in higher courts.