The war over the Collegium system for appointing judges is not over. It’s now in its second phase and likely to become more intense. The current system is non-transparent and promotes nepotism and corruption. The Supreme Court has been using it in an arbitrary manner, without being accountable to any authority. This is in disregard to the law passed by Parliament, which provided a balanced process for selecting judges.
Kiran Rijiju, the former Union State Minister for Law and Justice, had openly criticized the Collegium system. This did not sit well with the Supreme Court, which sometimes made unpleasant comments about government officials. In a democracy, all three branches of government should work together in harmony while retaining their constitutional autonomy. However, institutional and personal egos sometimes get in the way, which is not good for democracy.
In a minor reshuffle, Prime Minister Narendra Modi switched Kiran Rijiju’s portfolio with Arjun Ram Meghwal’s. Rijiju is now the Minister of Earth and Science, while Meghwal is the new Union State Minister for Law and Justice. Meghwal is a retired IAS officer from Rajasthan who has support among Dalit communities.
