3 min readNew DelhiJan 25, 2023 07:12 AM IST
First published on: Jan 24, 2023 at 02:11 PM IST
The standoff between the Government and the judiciary over the appointment of judges took another turn Tuesday with Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju saying that the Supreme Court making public “secret or sensitive reports” on the Centre’s objections to the appointment of three advocates as High Court judges was a “grave concern”.
Responding to questions from reporters on the Supreme Court’s move, Rijiju said that “putting the secret or sensitive reports of R&AW or IB in public domain is a matter of grave concern”.
Stressing that he will take up the issue “at the appropriate time, Rijiju said, “I can say this much, if the concerned officer who is working for the nation in disguise or in secretive mode in a very secretive location… Will think twice if tomorrow his or her report is going to be in the public domain, that it will have implications.”
On January 19, the Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud had reiterated its decision to appoint five advocates as High Court judges. In at least three cases, it made public its reasons for the reiteration and the Government’s objections, mainly a candidate’s sexual orientation and his “foreign-national” partner; an advocate’s critical post on Prime Minister Narendra Modi; and, another’s views on social media critical of the Government.
The five candidates whose names were reiterated by the Supreme Court were senior advocate Saurabh Kirpal for appointment as judge of the Delhi High Court; advocate Somsekhar Sundaresan as judge of the Bombay High Court; advocate R John Sathyan for the Madras High Court; and, advocates Sakya Sen and Amitesh Banerjee as judges of the Calcutta High Court.
Days later, the Law Minister shared a video clip from an interview conducted in November last year of R S Sodhi, a retired Delhi High Court judge, who said the Supreme Court had “hijacked” the Constitution by deciding to appoint its own judges. “Actually majority of the people have similar sane views,” Rijiju tweeted Sunday, a day after sharing the video clip.
On Monday, speaking during an event at the Tiz Hazari courts Rijiju said there was no “Mahabharat” between the Government and the judiciary — and there will be “debate and discussion” in a democracy. He also said that he has “live contact” with the CJI and they “discuss everything”, from “small to complex issues”.
Rijiju had also referred to a letter written by former CJI N V Ramana on criticism of judges on social media and said judges are careful while delivering verdicts that could draw a strong public reaction. However, he said, unlike politicians, a “judge does not have to face an election again”.
“Putting secret reports in the public domain is a matter of grave concern. But I will speak about this at an appropriate time,” Rijiju said. (File) 
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