The Supreme Court Bar Association has urged the Chief Justice, the collegium and the Union government to implement urgent changes to the appointment process of judges in the top court and high courts.
The association has also requested suitable amendments to the Memorandum of Procedure to ensure the process is transparent, thereby appointing only meritorious persons with impeccable integrity to high constitutional posts.
In identical letters addressed to Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, the collegium’s other four members — Justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, J.K. Maheshwari and B.V. Nagarathna — and law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, association president and senior advocate Vikas Singh said there was an “urgent need to finalise the Memorandum of Procedure and institute a transparent, merit-driven and equitable framework for appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and high courts”.
The memorandum is a bipartite agreement between the government and the Supreme Court collegium that deals with the present mode of appointment of judges to the apex court and high courts.
“As the ultimate protector of the constitutional liberties of equality, security and dignity, the judiciary must be bold, fearless and uncompromisingly independent. Such a judiciary cannot emerge unless the process of its own elevation is rooted in transparency and merit.
“The prevailing collegium mechanism, while designed to preserve judicial independence, has inadvertently created significant challenges. Its structural flaws
demand urgent and comprehensive correction,” Vikas Singh said.