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By India Today News Desk: Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, who has been quite vocal in his criticism of the Collegium system, said the controversy over appointment of judges to the higher courts will remain till the Collegium system remains in place. He spoke about the ‘Uncle Judge’ syndrome and linked it to the Collegium system.
“Since the Collegium came into the picture, three senior judges in the high courts decide who will become the next judges of the high courts, and they send names for the same. For the Supreme Court judges, five seniormost judges decide on the name. They will only decide on names that are within their knowledge or their jurisdiction. The Collegium has created the situation where the judges will take names of only those that they know,” Kiren Rijiju said in an interview with Aaj Tak.
The law minister said, “The government had a broader view because we were not from the judiciary. But in the Collegium, they discuss only those judges that they know. Judges that they don’t know won’t be recommended.”
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He also spoke about the ‘Uncle Judge’ syndrome. “Uncle-judge means if someone you know has become a judge, your path becomes clearer,” Kiren Rijiju said.
“But if you are a good advocate, but you don’t know any influential judge, then your name will not be recommended,” he added.
“Till the Collegium system is there, the controversy over the appointment of judges will remain and the uncle judge syndrome issue will keep cropping up,” Kiren Rijiju said.
‘90% JUDGES LIKE OUR WORK BUT…’: KIREN RIJIJU
Talking about his political journey, Kiren Rijiju said, “I have an LLB degree but I have never practiced law before. I saw the courtroom after I became law minister.”
“I became engaged in social work while I was studying in college. No one from my family was in politics. There were voices from the public that I should contest the polls. I had relations with ABVP so I got direct entry into BJP,” Kiren Rijiu said.
While he expressed happiness that over 90 per cent of judges are happy with the ruling party’s work, he also hit out at anti-government comments made by a few retired judges.
“90 per cent of judges like our work. They say they are happy with our work. It feels nice. But the rest 10 per cent people, they are anti-BJP. Their thoughts are anti-BJP. Just think, a retired supreme court attacking our prime minister, our government,” the Union law minister said.
He added, “Even after retiring, a judge should maintain the sanctity. Some retired judges, maybe unknowingly, participate in some programmes that are sponsored by anti-government forums.”
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