Union Law Minister HR Bhardwaj has said the Government is not considering any proposal for changing the present system of appointment of judges of the Supreme Court and high courts.Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha on Monday, Bhardwaj said a collegium consisting of judges of the Supreme Court considers all the available information on the candidates and forms a view regarding their suitability for appointment to the post.He said from details on a candidate’s integrity and temperament, background information including political affiliation or leaning of a candidate were also made available to the Chief Justice of India for consideration by the collegium. Replying to another question, Bhardwaj said the Government had taken note of the criticism by legal experts regarding the practice of selecting judges of superior judiciary by the collegium. Under this system, judges are selected keeping in view their educational qualifications, nature, extent and length of practice, the field of specialisation and professional income in the last three years.However, the process of appointment by the collegium has come under severe criticism from the Parliamentary Committee on Law and Justice which had called for a more transparent system for appointment of judges. Earlier, Bhardwaj himself had said that pre-1993 system, where primacy of the CJI’s opinion and supremacy of the Cabinet was followed, should be restored. Slamming the collegium, Bhardwaj had said an extraconstitutional body could not force its views on the Cabinet.
