The Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday told the Lok Sabha that the government can’t close its eyes and blindly accept the recommendations made by the Supreme Court collegium for appointments to the High Court and Supreme Court.
Rijiju said that there is always a valid reason behind not approving certain names recommended by the Collegium.
The collegium, on Monday, cleared 56 names, including 36 judicial officers and 20 advocates, for appointment as judges of nine High Courts. The collegium comprises the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Justices U U Lalit and A M Khanwilkar.
The ongoing collegium had created a record by recommending to the Centre names.
Clarifying that the government doesn’t delay the appointment of Judges, Union Law Minister assured the Lok Sabha regarding the government’s “clear conscience”, LiveLaw reported.
Responding to a Member of Parliament, he said that if the Union Government feels that certain candidates are not deserving and he/she ought not to be appointed as a Judge, then such names are not approved.
He claimed said that government has access to machinery at hand to scrutinise and run background checks on the names before approving them.
Union Law Minister said that the number of pendency of cases in India is slowly moving toward the 5 crore mark and that this is an issue of concern.
