Former judge K. Chandru questions collegium system, alleges saffronisation of judicial appointments

Former Madras High Court judge Justice K. Chandru has raised questions about the collegium system of appointing judges. He was speaking at a seminar on "Who Will Judge the Judges?" organised by the Asian College of Journalism. He criticised the Union government and the judiciary for not putting in place a permanent mechanism for appointing judges.

Speaking on the topic "The collegium system of appointing judges is a constitutional coup", Chandru made several claims. He alleged that saffronisation is growing in judicial appointments. According to Chandru, names of people linked to a particular ideology get cleared, while the appointments of others are left hanging.

Chandru said the Narendra Modi government at the Centre had tried to set up the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) in 2014, but the Supreme Court struck down the law. Afterwards, instead of amending the law and creating a new commission, the collegium system was continued.

He also said that if anyone had objected to the balance of members in the NJAC's structure, it could have been changed and a new commission formed. According to Chandru, the collegium's process runs behind closed doors, which raises questions about transparency.

As an example, Chandru cited the appointment of Justice Victoria Gowri. He said her appointment was cleared despite allegations that she had made objectionable statements about minorities. In contrast, he said, the collegium recommended advocate John Sathyan's name again, yet his appointment was not cleared.

Chandru also claimed that in the selection of judges, appointments of people linked to a particular ideology are deliberately given priority.

Chandru suggested that appointments of judges should not rely only on the present method. Law professors and well-known legal experts should also be considered, he said, pointing out that university professors are also appointed as judges in the United States. In his view, the question of judicial appointments concerns the whole country, so there should be a transparent and permanent mechanism for it.