Centre to push revised procedures on appointment of judges

The Centre is likely to persist with some provisions of the revised memorandum of procedure (MoP) on appointment of judges to the higher judiciary despite Supreme Court Collegium objecting to certain key clauses.

Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday to discuss government’s response to the SC Collegium objections, highly placed sources said.

Swaraj had headed the Group of Ministers which had finalised the draft MoP, which guides appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and the 24 high courts.

The need for revising the MoP arose after the SC's Constitution bench quashed the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act. Subsequently, the court directed the Centre to prepare a fresh MoP in consultation with the Collegium.

Before responding to SC's Collegium, the government would consider the opinion of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi. He had played a key role in finalising the draft memorandum .

"As of today, nothing is finalised. But government would rebut at least some of the objections flagged by the Collegium," a senior government functionary said.
The aim of revising the MoP was to bring in more transparency in judicial appointments and the government believes that the revised draft is a step in that direction, the functionary said.