Collegium system akin to appointment system of Gymkhana club: FM Arun Jaitley

NEW DELHI: Challenging the "exclusivity" enjoyed by judges in appointing their own, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley equated the collegium system to the appointment system of Gymkhana club where members appoint the future members.

Sharing his views in a debate over NJAC organised by Times Now channel, Jaitley expressed his strong regret over the role of executive in selection of judges and said that it has been reduced to a "clerical" one.

On the other hand, retired Chief Justice of India (CJI) RM Lodha conceded that there were serious flaws in the collegium system. However, he stressed that the judiciary needs to be "insulated" from "political interference". And that the role of the executive has to be "nominal". Admitting that the collegium system is "opaque and secretive", the retired CJI said the appointments and the procedure adopted can be put in the public domain or provided under RTI Act to usher in transparency.

Noted jurist Soli J Sorabjee agreed with the Finance Minister that judges should have an important role in the selection process but "not an exclusive one".

Sorabjee said Justice Kurien Joseph, who was part of the five judge-bench, which delivered the NJAC verdict, had "castigated" the collegium system by saying that various deserving persons were ignored while several undeserving persons were included.