Advocate KK Manan demands govt reconsider 'incompetent' collegium system

Advocate KK Manan dismissed Justice Ujjal Bhuyan's remarks on executive interference in the collegium but called the system itself "incompetent," urging the government to reconsider it. Other advocates weighed in on the controversy.

Advocate KK Manan dismissed Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan's reported remarks on the interference of the executive in the collegium system over the transfer of Justice Sreedharan but highlighted the "incompetence" of the collegium system, and demanded government reconsider it.

Speaking with ANI, Advocate KK Manan said, "I may agree or not agree, but because he is a sitting judge, he must have visualised and considered whatever the transfer decision was there of the Collegium. And he, I have also gone through his statement that he said that executive interference in the Collegium system is there. But I don't agree with him at all," he said.

Expressing his disbelief in the collegium system, "First of all, I do not agree with the collegium system because now even in the Delhi High Court, you will see what I am gathering, and the rumour is again the names, and one of the names is a third-generation, briefless lawyer, and he's a male. His name is being considered for the high court judge for the third generation, especially a briefless lawyer," he said.

He requested government to reconsider the collegium system for the judicial commission and for the appointment of judges. "My humble submission would be that the government of India, parliament, because ultimately law is being made by the parliament, by the legislature, they should reconsider the collegium system for the judicial commission and for the appointment of judges. But at this stage and time, the collegium system is there, and we have to respect it as well," he said.

Advocates Offer Differing Views

Speaking about the issue, Advocate Aman Lekhi said, "What has been released by the court suggests that Justice Sreedharan's transfer was shifted from Chhattisgarh to Allahabad due to the executive's interference. If something is prompted by the executive and a decision is subsequently re-engineered by the court, the entire process is compromised. That is not how it is supposed to work... Transparency has to fuel belief, not extinguish it, in the efficacy of the process."

Advocate Satyam Singh Rajput agreed with Ujjal Bhuyan's remarks and emphasised that Justice Sreedharan's transfer is not the first instance. "What justice Ujjal Bhuyan has said is right. Everyone has faith in the judiciary... The transfer of Justice Sreedharan is not the first such case. Earlier too, many such transfers have taken place... Interference of the executive in the judiciary damages the collegium system and the faith entrusted in the judiciary," he said.

Context: Justice Bhuyan's Remarks

This comes after Justice Bhuyan reported remarks on the interference of the executive in the collegium system. "When the collegium records that the transfer of a High Court Judge was being made at the request of the Central Government it reveals a striking intrusion of executive influence into what is constitutionally supposed to be an independent process, created to render such process immune from executive and political influence," Justice Bhuyan said during a lecture at ILS Law College. (ANI)

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