Judges' appointment after Constitution Bench's verdict: Thakur

Chief Justice of India T S Thakur on Sunday said appointment of judges in the higher judiciary would be made only after the pronouncement of final judgment by the Constitution Bench on improvement to the Collegium system.

In response to a query over filling up vacancy in the high courts, he said: “Personally, I feel, if matter (Collegium) is sub judice, we have to wait.”

The five-judge Constitution Bench had on October 16 invalidated the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act and revived the Collegium system—comprising the CJI and four seniormost judges—for appointment of judges in the high courts and the apex court.
However, the same bench agreed to incorporate suggestions with regard to improvement in the Collegium system to make the appointment process transparent and broad based. It reserved its verdict on November 19.

Talking about the Allahabad High Court which was functioning with over 100 vacancies of judges, Justice Thakur said it is an uphill task to make appointment as we cannot compromise on merit.

“We can even think of making ad-hoc appointment to deal with the situation,” he said.
To a question whether there should be a cooling-off period for judges before giving them any post-retirement jobs, Justice Thakur said if there is a statute reserving certain posts for the retired judges, then the appointments could be made.

However, he added that certain retired judges are earning in crores through arbitration.
Listing out his priorities as the CJI, he said he would like to ensure access of justice to all and brook no deviant behaviour from judges.