Romit Chandrakar : Appointment of Judges- Democratization needed

*Appointment of Judges: Democratization needed*
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Nemo debet esse judex in propria causa’ is a legal Maxim that means no-one should be a judge in his own case. It is a principle of natural justice that no person can judge a case in which they have an interest. But in India the wheel is moving conversely to the above maxim, this world’s largest democracy has a Chief Justice, who heard a case on his own corruption and now picked up a bench to hear a case on his own impeachment by claiming himself to be the master of roster.
The tenacity of the Indian judiciary is undergoing an evaluation at the topmost level.

For the first time ever in history four senior SC judges came out and alarmed us that our democracy is in danger and second most senior Justice Ranjan Gogoi, few days back wrote a letter to CJI to have a full court discussion on future of this institution. There are talks going on in many quarters that just like on April 25, 1973, three of the seven judges, who delivered the majority judgment in the Kesavananda Bharati case which went against the Government’s position were superseded for the position of CJI similarly in the current scenario also it is worth noticing that again on April 25, 2018 the Government has chosen to appoint Indu Malhotra to the SC and not to endorse the case of Justice Joseph because of Uttarakhand Governor rule judgment against the current regime. Both the names were recommended by the collegium through the same proceedings.

The appointment of judges in the SC should attract the attention of all of us, who should become alert to uphold the dignity of judiciary. Now the ball is in CJI’s court to restore public trust via a judicial handshake. Our court as an “institution” shall rise to the occasion and not be pressurized or browbeaten. This “independence” is inalienable and its protection concerns all of us.