Justice Ajay Rastogi said he has never faced pressure from the government or elsewhere.
Supreme Court Justice Ajay Rastogi, who retired on June 17, has defended the Collegium system of selecting judges and said that the judiciary is in safe hands under Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud.
His comments come at a time when Union Minister Kiren Rijiju and Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar have, on several occasions, spoken out against the Collegium system and advocated for judges being picked by a National Judicial Appointments Commission instead.
In an exclusive interview with NDTV, Justice Rastogi - who was part of the bench that dismissed Bilkis Bano's review petition - also said that, in his 20 years as a judge, he has never faced any pressure from the government or elsewhere.
Bilkis Bano was gang-raped and seven members of her family were killed during the 2002 Gujarat riots. All 11 convicts were granted remission by the Gujarat government last year.
"The Collegium system of picking judges is good and provides a framework for picking judges carefully. Thanks to live streaming and the virtual courts system, the court is getting closer to the people and the CJI should be congratulated for this. I have learnt a lot from CJI Chandrachud and the judiciary is in safe hands under him," said Justice Rastogi.
The judge said the Supreme Court was always strong but the faith of the people in the court has now increased. "This is because they can now see how justice is done, and this has brought the court closer to them. CJI Chandrachud has taught us that judgments should be given based on the ground realities. He says we work for the people and every person who approaches the court should get complete justice," he added.
On the issue of judge selection, Justice Rastogi said the judges who are part of the Collegium have a lot of experience and the government and Intelligence Bureau are also part of the process. He said, "If the government has an issue, it can raise it with the Collegium. How much more filtering can be done? The system is transparent now. The Collegium report, which is made public, has details of the deliberations."
Justice Rastogi also said merely speaking out against the government is not called being impartial. "I believe an impartial judge is one who decides cases based on evidence," he said.