After Rebuke From Chief Justice Of India, Government Preps This Reply

New Delhi: In a week, the government is meant to explain to Chief Justice of India TS Thakur why it is moving slowly on clearing the appointments of top judges. Justice Thakur has asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 80-minute speech on Independence Day, which presented his government's progress in areas ranging from building roads to implementing key welfare schemes, offered no update on hundreds of vacancies for judges in courts across the country.

Just three days before that, the Chief Justice had warned the government in court that he would be forced to issue orders if pending appointments are not cleared.

"The institution cannot be brought to a grinding halt," he said on August 12, adding that 74 high court judges recommended since January have not been cleared by the government.

The government, sources said, wants its reply to signal there is no friction with the judiciary. So it will stress that since the start of this year, four Supreme Court judges have been named and nine chief justices have been appointed for different high courts in states. It will also list a number of other judicial appointments that have been okayed.

"The process of clearance set by the courts and constitution is lengthy. A recommendation is received via due process and then there are background checks, reports secured," said a government source to explain how complicated and time-consuming it can be to sanction a judge's appointment.

For two decades, judges to the high courts and Supreme Court were selected by a collegium or group of the country's senior most judges with the right to overrule the government's objections. In 2014, parliament cleared a new process that would give the government a larger say in the appointment of top jobs by including the Law Minister on the panel that appoints top judges. In October, the Supreme Court rejected that plan cited in the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act.

Critics say the government should have no role in selecting judges and giving the government  could lead to the  politicization of appointments, but the government and some legal experts had said the old system needed to be revamped as it was not transparent. The government and the judiciary have since been unable to find a compromise despite negotiations.

In April, the Chief Justice broke down at a seminar attended by the PM, reporting the stress on courts that are unable to hear or decide cases because of a shortage of judges.