Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Despite criticism of Supreme Court collegium of being non-transparent in appointing judges, Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan has bated for the same saying it needs to review the earlier judgments of the apex court.
The collegium method has came as a result of two judgments of the apex court in 1993 and then in 1998 by a presidential reference.
“We only follow the procedure from these judgments. If the Centre wants to change the system, it must seek review of the judgments, whether on its own or through some other method,” the CJI said in an interview to a newspaper published on Sunday.
Otherwise, it could be violative of the directions given in these judgments, he added.
The Justice also went on to add that he will leave it to his successor to deicide on a proposal from the Centre suggesting changes in the Memorandum of Procedure of appointment of judges to give greater say to the executive in the appointments and to ensure more transparency.
Expressing concern over the ever-increasing workload on the apex court, Justice Balakrishnan told the paper, “We have to look for some changes in the system, as judges are overburdened. This year, the number of cases filed in the Supreme Court is expected to touch 84,000. Though the disposal rate is correspondingly high, it cannot be continued for a long time. The present system could be continued for another 10 years, and thereafter we must look for some change in the system.”
On honour killings, the CJI said it is upto Parliament to decide (whether) to come out with legislation or not.
