Collegium system is the best, says former SC judge

MANGALURU: Former judge of the Supreme Court and former Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde said that no system, other than the Collegium system, could ever do justice to the appointment of judges.
Hegde was delivering the valedictory address at the regional advocates conference 2016 organised by Mangalore Bar Association here on Saturday.
Elaborating on his views, Hegde said, “normally, in all the appointments, there is a system by which we call for applications and then there is a viva-voce after the written examination.So we get to know the capability of the candidates and then we choose the person. Whereas when it comes to appointments for superior courts, we don’t call for applications, we don’t have written tests and there is no interview. So everything depends upon the knowledge the appointing authority has about the performance of available candidates. Who else will know better than a judge or a collegium of judges who sitting there watching the person’s performance, his credibility and his background?,” he questioned.
“The National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) recommended three judges, law minister and two eminent people. I don’t know the definition of ‘eminent people’. They have the choice of veto. How can these two eminent people know the performance of eligible people in the bar? They don’t come to the court and see their performance. In this background, the collegium system is the best, but there are some flaws in that system also,” Hegde said.
In Collegium system, he said, “entire selection of judges is so secretively made and nobody comes to know anything about that. According to me, there should be a transparency in collegium in the appointment of judges to superior courts.”
"Put the details of the candidates considered for elevation. Let the people and colleagues react to it before appointment," Hegde suggested.