File photo of Supreme Court.
The government is likely to stick to some of the provisions of the revised memorandum of procedure on appointment of judges to the higher judiciary despite the Supreme Court Collegium objecting to certain key clauses.
As the government finalises its reply to the objections raised the collegium, Law Minister DV Sadananda Gowda this evening met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to discuss the response government would give to the Supreme Court Collegium on its objections to the memorandum of procedure, highly-placed sources said.
Ms Swaraj had headed the Group of Ministers which had finalised the memorandum of procedure (MoP), a document which guides appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and the 24 high courts.
Before finalising its response, the government would also await the opinion of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi. He had played a key role in finalising the draft memorandum of procedure.
"As of today, nothing is finalised. But government would rebut at least some of the objections flagged by the collegium," a senior government functionary said.
The aim of revising the memorandum of procedure was to bring in more transparency in judicial appointments and the government believes that the revised draft is a step in that direction, the functionary said.
According to precedent, while the Executive drafts the MoP, both the government and the Judiciary have to agree on the provisions before it is operationalised and put in public domain.