Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday, 24 January, said that the Supreme Court Collegium revealing the government's objections to the appointment of judges is a matter of "grave concern."
On 19 January, the Supreme Court Collegium -- the judicial appointment body -- had reiterated its recommendations for appointing five lawyers as High Court judges.
In doing so, the Collegium, made up of the Chief Justice and seniormost judges of the Supreme Court, had revealed the government's reasons for objecting to the appointments and cleary disagreed with them.
The government's reasons for objecting to the appointments of Saurabh Kirpal, John Sathyan and Somosekhar Sundaresan among others, range from honesty about sexual orientation to social media posts critical of the Prime Minister, the collegium statement said.
Responding to this Rijiju said on Tuesday:
"Putting out secret and sensitive reports of RAW or IB in public domain is a matter of grave concern, to which I will react at an appropriate time. Today is not the appropriate time."
This is the latest, in an ongoing tussle between the government and judiciary over the functioning of the Colegium.
While the centre, on multiple occassions has said that the Collegium lacks "transperancy" and has asked for some sort of government representation in the body, the Supreme Court has said that the Collegium is the "law of the land" and must be "followed to its teeth."
(With inputs from NDTV.)
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