Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Feb 18: In support of the Collegium system at a time when it is under attack, former Chief Justice of India UU Lalit stated on Saturday that nothing is better than this system and that the Supreme Court Collegium has unanimously reaffirmed its name.
The former CJI Lalit spoke at a conference on judicial appointments and reforms and discussed his two years spent as a member of the Collegium system.
The seminar on judicial appointments and reforms was organised by Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms.
“Initial recommendation made by Supreme Court collegium for appointment of judges to the top court and high courts need not be unanimous and could be by majority vote.But reiteration of name by the Supreme Court Collegium has to be unanimous,” former CJI Lalit said.
Backing up the Collegium, CJI Lalit said, “we don’t have a system better than the Collegium system. If we don’t have anything qualitatively better than the collegium system, naturally, we must work towards making it possible that this collegium system survives.”
He also stressed that there is no need for interference in the system. Former CJI Lalit described it as an almost flawless model, but acknowledged that there might be flaws if specific recommendations weren’t followed.
Speaking more specifically about the Collegium system, Justice Lalit discussed his participation in it and stated that, during his time as a member, the government accepted nearly 255 names recommended by the Collegium, while about 30 or so of those recommendations remained pending until he left office.
He also made note of the fact that most judges in this nation are usually assigned to the High Court rather than the Supreme Court.
