Context
Supreme Court Justice Dipankar Datta defended the Collegium system, rejecting the description of it as simply “judges appointing judges”. He also questioned the Union government’s selective clearance of Collegium recommendations, noting the Executive’s role in the appointment process.
Explanation
- Constitutional Mandate: Under Articles 124 and 217, the President of India holds the formal authority to appoint Supreme Court and High Court judges.
- Independence Safeguard: To prevent the Executive from packing the courts with favourable judges, the Judiciary actively evolved a system called “Collegium system” to protect its institutional independence.
- Judicial Evolution: This system was systematically structured throughout the 1980s and 1990s across the landmark First, Second, and Third Judges cases.
- System Mechanism: The Collegium system refers to a closed group of judges consisting of Chief Justice of India and the senior-most judges – who evaluate, recommend, and effectively finalize judicial appointments and transfers.
- For Supreme Court appointments, the Collegium comprises the CJI and four senior-most SC judges.
- For High Court appointments, proposals pass through the High Court Collegium, governments and the Supreme Court Collegium.
- The Executive (Council of Ministers) conducts background inputs/vetting, processes recommendations and advises the President, who formally makes appointments.
- The 99th Constitutional Amendment and NJAC Act, 2014 sought to replace the Collegium, but the Supreme Court struck them down in 2015, restoring the Collegium system.
La Excellence IAS Academy, the best IAS coaching in Hyderabad, known for delivering quality content and conceptual clarity for UPSC 2026 preparation.
FOLLOW US ON:
◉ YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/@CivilsPrepTeam
◉ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaExcellenceIAS
◉ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laexcellenceiasacademy/
GET IN TOUCH:
Contact us at info@laex.in, https://laex.in/contact-us/
or Call us @ +91 9052 29 2929, +91 9052 99 2929, +91 9154 24 2140
OUR BRANCHES:
Head Office: H No: 1-10-225A, Beside AEVA Fertility Center, Ashok Nagar Extension, VV Giri Nagar, Ashok Nagar, Hyderabad, 500020
Madhapur: Flat no: 301, survey no 58-60, Guttala begumpet Madhapur metro pillar: 1524, Rangareddy Hyderabad, Telangana 500081
Bangalore: Plot No: 99, 2nd floor, 80 Feet Road, Beside Poorvika Mobiles, Chandra Layout, Attiguppe, Near Vijaya Nagara, Bengaluru, 560040