No one can warn anyone: Rijiju on Supreme Court rap over appointments

NEW DELHI: The Union government bristled at the suggestion that following a rebuke and threat of “unpalatable action” from the Supreme Court, it hastily notified the appointment of five judges of the apex court, with law minister Kiran Rijiju publicly asserting that “no one can give a warning to anyone”.

Speaking at celebrations of 150 years of the Allahabad High Court Bar Association at Prayagraj, in the presence of judges of the Supreme Court and high court, Rijiju said: “Somebody pointed out that SC has given a warning. People of this country are lord of this nation, we are just servants. Everybody here is a sewak (servant), if there is any master it is the janta (citizens). And if there is any guide, it is the Constitution. The country will run as per the guidance of the Constitution and as per the wishes of the people. No one can give a warning to anyone. We are all servants of this country. It is a privilege and we are fortunate to have been given an opportunity to serve the country.”

Rijiju also said that “there is no judiciary-versus-government tussle in the country”. The minister’s remarks came amid suggstions that the government had to speed up the appointment of five judges to the SC because of a warning from an SC bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abhay S Oka that failure to immediately notify the recommendations of the collegium “may result in both administrative and judicial actions which may not be palatable”.

The bench had also said it would stop giving judicial work to judges who are on the transfer list sent to the government.

Even as the law minister tweeted the elevation of five judges to the SC, sources said the government had completed the process of notification and the attorney general had conveyed as much to the bench headed by Justice Kaul. “Such type of unwarranted aggression is not helpful for smooth functioning,” a senior source said amid clear indications that the threat of action by the bench may have further strained the already tense ties between the government and the top court. “Strong words were used when they were not needed,” said the source.

The newly appointed SC judges — Chief Justices Pankaj Mithal (Rajasthan HC), Sanjay Karol (Patna HC) and PV Sanjay Kumar (Manipur HC), and Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah (Patna HC) and Manoj Misra (Allahabad HC) — are likely to take the oath of office on Monday.

Rijiju had recently gone on record saying the collegium system of appointment of judges to the SC and HCs are alien to the Constitution. He had even written to the CJI requesting him to constitute a screening-cum-selection committee, both at the level of the SC and of the HCs, which could assist the collegium in the selection of suitable candidates for judgeships in the higher judiciary.

Rijiju had later clarified that these suggestions were as per the directions of the five-judge Constitution Bench that had in an order in December 2015 suggested the creation of a mechanism outside the collegium to ensure transparency in appointments by setting up a secretariat and a system that can also deal with complaints against judges.

The December 2015 judgment of the Constitution Bench had come after it had earlier struck down the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act as unconstitutional.

The law minister also said that maximum use of the mother tongue during arguments should be encouraged in the interest of litigants, adding that “his ministry has prepared a legal glossary and a book on legal terminology in order to make this task easier”. He said that “the judiciary, bar and the government should work together as a team so as to provide easy and cheap justice to the people, which is our aim and objective”.

Regarding other methods to reduce case pendency, the law minister said, “The government is making all possible efforts to strengthen the alternative dispute resolution method... a ‘mediation bill’ is going to be passed soon. Though arbitration is a quasi-judicial process, mediation will be a judicial process,” he said.

One of the guests of honour, Justice Vikram Nath, also a Supreme Court judge, fondly recalled the days spent in this bar association. In lighter vein, he described the Union law minister as “articulate and outspoken”, saying his frequent statements prove how outspoken he is.