Minister K Rijiju's Retort To Arvind Kejriwal Over Judges' Appointments

Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju today while replying to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said convenient politics is not advisable, especially in the name of the Judiciary, adding that the Constitution of India is supreme and nobody is above it.

Tussle erupted after Kiren Rijiju recently wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of India and pitched for the inclusion of government representatives in the collegium.

Calling it extremely dangerous, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal through social media criticized the Centre's step and said, "this is extremely dangerous. There should be absolutely no govt interference in judicial appointments"

On that Kiren Rijiju replied that "the contents in the letter to hon'ble CJI are exactly in conformity with the observations and directions of the Supreme Court Constitution Bench. Convenient politics is not advisable, especially in the name of the Judiciary. The Constitution of India is supreme and nobody is above it.

I hope you honour Court's direction! This is precise follow-up action of the direction of the Supreme Court Constitution Bench while striking down the National Judicial Appointment Commission Act. The SC Constitution Bench had directed to restructure the MoP of the collegium system, further added Mr Rijiju.

This tussle of both leaders on Monday came after the Centre wrote to CJI D Y Chandrachud suggesting the inclusion of government representatives in the Collegium.

While speaking to ANI, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, who is not satisfied with the Collegium system of appointing judges, said, "It is just a follow-up action of the letters written earlier to CJI following the direction of the Supreme Court Constitution Bench while striking down the National Judicial Appointment Commission Act. The SC Constitution Bench had directed to restructure the MoP of the collegium system."

Mr Rijiji's letter to the CJI pitched for the inclusion of government representatives in the Supreme Court Collegium.

According to the Centre, this will infuse transparency and accountability to the public in the court's decision-making process with respect to the appointment of judges.

The Supreme Court Constitution Bench had directed the restructuring of the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) of the collegium system.

The MoP is a document that sets out the procedure for the appointment of judges to High Courts and the Supreme Court.

Under the present Collegium system, the Chief Justice of India along with four senior-most Supreme Court judges recommend appointments and transfers of judges. Chief Justice Chandrachud and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, KM Joseph, MR Shah, Ajay Rastogi and Sanjiv Khanna are among the current collegium of the Supreme Court.

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