Context:
- Appointment of judges
In news:
- SC’s move to ensure transparency
- According to the SC’s decisions, recommendations on judicial appointments, elevations and transfers will be posted on the court website
- As a start, the Supreme Court has posted online detailed reasons for its October 3, 2017 recommendations for judicial appointments to the Madras HC and the Kerala HC
- Details are now available online under the tag “Collegium Resolutions”
Transparency:
- The information posted online will “indicate” reasons for the recommendation or rejection of a name for judicial appointment, transfer and elevation to HCs and the SC
Background
- Collegium system was being criticised for its opaque mode of functioning while recommending judicial appointments
- Recently, a controversy came after the public uproar over the resignation of Karnataka HC judge shortly after his transfer to the Allahabad HC
- The mode of functioning of the Collegium had seen criticism, for the first time, from within the Collegium itself in the form of Justice Chelameswar
Judges opinion:
- Proposal to upload the Collegium recommendations indicating reasons had to face strong objections from within the judicial community itself
- One of the objections include that posting such information online would cause judicial candidates acute embarrassment and loss of face in case of rejection of their names by the Collegium
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