Patna: Upendra Kushwaha, the minister of state for HRD, raised finger at the collegium system on Sunday, demanding a change in the process of judges selecting judges.
Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) will launch a campaign-cum-agitation - Halla Bol Darwaja Khol - from May 20 to press for the demand in New Delhi.
"As things stand now, a person from the lower strata of society cannot become a part of selecting judges in high court and the Supreme Court. As per the existing practice, there is no opportunity in which Dalits or the ordinary people can become a part of judges' selection. There is a culture of choosing the heir by a few selective people," Kushwaha said in the party office here on Sunday.
Kushwaha, an OBC leader, said people from the suppressed classes, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Extremely Backward Classes do not get the opportunity to be a part of the process. The number of women in the collegium is also very few, he added.
He said: "In spite having every talent and skill, if a person from the backward classes wants to become judge in the high court or the Supreme Court, he cannot achieve the goal because there is no way. The gate is closed, so I have planned to launch the Halla Bol Darwaja Khol campaign."
The junior Union minister made a sarcastic comment at the collegium system, saying while people took pride in being part of the biggest democracy in the world, it was hard to believe there was no equal opportunity in judiciary.
"On the pattern of the Indian Administrative Service and Indian Police Service, there has to be a 'Indian Judiciary Service' at the national level according to provisions in the Constitution. The present collegium system in not complete, because it does not provide equal opportunity," he stressed.
In the first phase of the RLSP campaign, the party will cover 10 cities, coming to Patna on June 5. Office-bearers will attend the programme at SK Memorial Hall. "We will raise the matter of why it is important to demand a change in the collegium system and what our Constitution says about it," Kushwaha said.
