Supreme Court conceded that the collegium system of judges appointing judges, which Parliament has replaced with the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC), has not worked well. During hearing of a bunch of petitions challenging the validity of the NJAC, the Centre and states have slammed the collegium’s nontransparent and non-accountable manner of appointing judges to the Supreme Court and high courts. Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi handed over to a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Justice J.S. Khehar a note in a sealed cover, containing names and details of judges considered �bad appointments� made on the recommendation of the Supreme Court Collegium in the last 20 years. During the hearing, Mr. Rohatgi alluded to how one Supreme Court judge was chronically late for court at the cost of valuable judicial time. The A-G wondered aloud why the apex court did not take action against that judge. In another case, a judge successfully held several Chief Justice posts in various High Courts and got elevated to the Supreme Court despite an abysmal track record of writing judgments. Besides, Mr. Rohatgi pointed out that the CJI and two senior-most judges in the NJAC enjoy the power to veto judicial appointments. Source: The Times Of India
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