In a first, SC collegium starts interacting with lawyers backed for HC judgeship

To erase this perception of lineage trumping merit or a judicial officer getting priority over first-generation lawyers in getting recommended for appointment as high court judges, one of the collegium judges recently mooted the idea of instructing high court collegiums not to recommend lawyers or judicial officers whose parents or close relatives were/are judges of Supreme Court or high courts, for appointment as high court judges.

The proposal quickly found favour with some others and has since gained traction for a freewheeling debate among other members of the collegium, which comprises CJI Sanjiv Khanna and Justices B R Gavai, Surya Kant, Hrishikesh Roy and A S Oka.

They are aware that some deserving candidates, who are close relatives of sitting or former Supreme Court or high court judges, may lose out, but feel that it would not harm them as they can earn money and fame as successful lawyers while their exclusion from the selection process would enable many deserving first-generation lawyers to enter constitutional courts, allow deepening and widening of the pool and, in turn, allow representation of diverse communities in Supreme Court and high courts.

In another significant step, the collegium comprising the CJI and Justices Gavai and Kant have for the first time started interacting with lawyers and judicial officers, recommended by high court collegiums for appointment as high court judges, to test their suitability and assess their capability and calibre.

The top three judges interacted with those recommended for appointment as judges of Allahabad, Bombay and Rajasthan high courts and forwarded the names they deemed to be eligible for appointment as high court judges to the Centre on Dec 22.

Earlier, Supreme Court collegium solely went by detailed biodata of lawyers and judicial officers submitted by high court collegiums, intelligence reports on their antecedents, as well as opinions of governors and CMs concerned. The personal interaction with recommended candidates helped in judging first-hand their demeanour and suitability for appointment as judges, Supreme Court sources told TOI.

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