The heated disagreement between the Supreme Court and the government have again flared up with the law minister Kiren Rijiju raising concerns over big pendency of cases and suggested that this will continue until a new procedure for appointing judges is not adopted.
In his response to a question posed on big numbers of pending cases in Rajya Sabha the minister talked about the “limited role” of government in appointing judges referring to the existing collegium system. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also present in the upper house of parliament when Mr Rijiju was responding.
It was a worrying sign that over 5 crore cases have been pending in the country, mostly because of judges’ vacancies.
He further said that “the government has very limited powers to fill vacancies of judges … We are giving our full support to reduce pendency of cases. But questions will keep arising on vacancy of judges and appointments till we create a new system for appointments, ” adding that as per the existing system the government cannot recommend any names other than the names by the collegium.
When he was questioned about the revival of National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, he said many prominent jurists, retired judges, advocates, lawyers and leaders from political parties have suggested that striking down the act will not be a right decision.
He also mentioned that even the government while putting its request before the chief justices for appointment of judges, they should well consider the diversity of the country that is home to many castes, religion and communities. “We also emphasise that names of women should be included while doing the selection,” he said.
