Two senior Supreme Court judges have called for a need to revisit the process of selection and appointment of judges to the higher judiciary.
Justice J Chelameswar and Justice Ranjan Gogoi also said there should be a law to deal with instances of misbehaviour of sitting judges or allegations against them.
Both feel that the impeachment process to remove judges is not sufficient to deal with situations where the conduct of a judge of a constitutional court requires correctives measures.
The judges’ view is part of the order by which a seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar had held the then sitting Calcutta High Court judge Justice CS Karnan guilty of contempt and on May 9 had sentenced him to six months jail.
The detailed judgement was released officially on Wednesday. The two judges authored a separate verdict where they expressed their concern over the present system of appointment, often criticised as opaque.
Justice Karnan had brought disrepute to the judiciary by levelling allegations against his colleagues and SC judges, SC held. After evading arrest for over a month, Justice Karnan was arrested on June 20, two days after he retired.
“The conduct of the contemnor ever since his elevation to the bench has been controversial. Obviously, there is a failure to make an assessment of the personality of the contemnor at the time of recommending his name for elevation,” the judge said, highlighting the system’s failure. To evolve an appropriate mechanism there should be a debate with lawyer, judges and civil society members. “The need appears to be unquestionable,” they said.
{{/usCountry}}“The conduct of the contemnor ever since his elevation to the bench has been controversial. Obviously, there is a failure to make an assessment of the personality of the contemnor at the time of recommending his name for elevation,” the judge said, highlighting the system’s failure. To evolve an appropriate mechanism there should be a debate with lawyer, judges and civil society members. “The need appears to be unquestionable,” they said.
{{/usCountry}}