'Govt Can Seek Reconsideration of Names Recommended by SC Collegium': Rijiju

This comes amid an ongoing tussle between the government and the Collegium, over a delay in appointment of judges.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/Altered by The Quint)

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday, 2 February, said that the Union government can seek a reconsideration of the names recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium.

Why does this matter? Rijiju's statement comes amid an ongoing tussle between the government and the Collegium, over a delay in appointment of judges.

In fact, in an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court Collegium had in a notification disclosed the Union government's reasons for objecting to appointments recommended by the judicial appointments body.

The collegium -- made up of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and other senior most judges -- had then gone on to reiterate their recommendations.

The government's reasons for sending back the names of lawyers to the judicial appointment body, range from honesty about sexual orientation to social media posts critical of the Prime Minister.

And, that's not all. There has been a constant war of words over the Collegium and its functioning.

In recent statements, Rijiju has criticised the Collegium for lacking "transparency" and "accountability" and has even reportedly written to the Chief Justice asking for a government representative to be included in the process of appointment.

18 such cases: Further, while responding to a question posed by Communist Party of India (Marxist) member John Brittas, he said that there are 18 such cases in which the government has sought reconsideration.

“Government can seek reconsideration on names recommended by the SCC, and as on 31.01.2023 there are total 18 proposals on which reconsideration of SCC has been sought. SCC decided to reiterate 06 cases, in 07 cases SCC has desired updated inputs from the High Court Collegiums, and 05 cases have been decided to be remitted by the SCC to the High Courts,” he said.