Asking Collegium to reconsider not a cardinal sin: Law Minister

Law Ministry not a post office to only process recommendations: Ravi Shankar

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad speaks as Railway Minister Piyush Goyal looks on at a function in New Delhi on Monday.

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday said that the government didn’t commit a “cardinal sin” if it asked for reconsideration of a name suggested by the Supreme Court Collegium and advised political parties that “lost popular franchise” not to push “sponsored litigation” in court.

Mr. Prasad’s reference was to the government’s decision to return the Collegium’s recommendation to elevate Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice K.M. Joseph as a Supreme Court judge and the Judge B.H. Loya case.

In a reference to the unprecedented episode of four top judges of Supreme Court openly dissenting against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, the Law Minister said the judiciary had “foresight and statesmanship to settle differences within it and the political class to remain immune”.

Subordinate judiciary

Claiming that the government had done well to fill vacancies in higher judiciary, Mr. Prasad suggested a robust pan-India entrance test to allow talent infusion into subordinate judiciary as nearly 5,000 vacancies exist in subordinate judiciary.

Reacting to charges of stalling appointments to the Supreme Court and the 24 high courts, the Law Minister said his office is not a “post office” which would only process recommendations of the Collegium on the appointment of judges.

“I wish to make it very clear that the Law Minister or the Law Ministry is not a post office. This fact I would like to very gently highlight. Even in the Collegium system... created by the three judgments of 1993, 1998 and 1999, the right of the government has been acknowledged to seek a reconsideration and also to give inputs,” he said addressing an event. He said it isn’t correct to say that “we are committing a cardinal sin” by seeking a reconsideration.

“In 2016, we appointed 126 HC judges, which was the highest number in the last 30 years. Since 1989, on average 79 to 82 judges were appointed (per annum). In 2016 alone, 126 judges to high courts were appointed and in 2017, 117 HC judges were appointed, and till now 30 HC judges have been appointed (this year),” he said.

Without naming the Congress, he hit out at the party for using courts to settle political scores.