The judiciary’s ‘between a rock and hard place’ moment

• Justice Yashwant Varma was involved in an incident involving high-value currency notes in his official bungalow in New Delhi.
• The incident was reported to the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, where he is a senior judge.
• The Chief Justice of India (CJI) decided to repatriate Justice Varma back to his parent court, the High Court of Allahabad.
• Justice Varma denied any money was stored in the room and suggested a conspiracy against him.
• The CJI initiated an in-house inquiry, involving a three-judge committee and releasing all information related to the incident.
• The CJI advised the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court not to assign any judicial work to Justice Varma until the inquiry is completed.
• The public furore has allowed the government to retake control of the power of appointing judges.
• The Vice-President of India invited political leaders to discuss why the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act should not be brought back.
• The NJAC Act formed an appointment committee, but seven judges argued it would provide significant scope to the government to interfere with judicial appointments and erode the independence of the judiciary.

Narendra Modi’s Interference in Judge Appointment
• The Narendra Modi government has interfered with the appointment of judges, despite the law that the power of selection is with the Supreme Court’s Collegium.
• The government has been slow to notify the appointments of independent judges, often sitting on recommendations without response.
• The Collegium has been seen to favor the government by selecting judges who are either committed to the government’s Hindutva ideology or weak and unable to resist the government’s diktats.
• This has led to the appointment of judges who are either committed to the government’s Hindutva ideology or weak and unable to resist the government’s diktats and wishes.
• The government’s attempt to gain greater control in the matter of judges appointments is seen as a threat to the independence of the judiciary.
• The government’s actions have led to nepotism and improper appointments through the Collegium.

Appointment of Judges and Corruption
• Every year, hundred judges of the High Court and the Supreme Court are selected.
• The right criteria and method to judge people on those criteria should be devised.
• A full-time judicial appointments commission, comprising retired judges and other eminent public men, should be established to select judges in a transparent manner.
• A high-powered and full-time judicial complaints commission should be established, comprising five independent individuals who can receive complaints against judges of the higher judiciary.
• The commission’s decision should be final, subject to judicial review only in exceptional circumstances, and should not go to Parliament at all.