Collegium system is here to stay, nothing wrong with it, says former CJI UU Lalit

New Delhi: On the criticism surrounding the Collegium system of 'judges appointing judges' in the higher judiciary, Former Chief Justice of India UU Lalit on Sunday said there is nothing wrong with it.

"The Collegium system is here to stay and it is an established norm where judges choose judges," he said, adding that the fundamentals of the system can be fine-tuned.

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju had recently criticised the Collegium system for being opaque. "No system can be 100 per cent perfect. But we need to strive for a better system. When Parliament passed the National Judicial Appointments Commission in 2015, the Supreme Court struck it down. They (SC) should have told us which system would be better," Rijiju had said.

Terming the Law Minister's comments as his "personal opinion", Justice Lalit asserted, "The Collegium system has got the approval of five judges' Bench of the Supreme Court." Lalit said that it would be the government's prerogative to bring back the NJAC if it decides to do. "But so long as that is not brought in, we will have to follow the established mechanism," he said.

Lalit also said that if the Collegium system requires improvement, then there must be a dialogue between all parties concerned. "In my opinion, the Collegium system is the best system. It has proved to have worked effectively," he said. Justice Lalit, to a question on short tenure of judges in the apex court, said in a country with enormous talent, it is better that judges retire and new judges come in regularly.with agency inputs