From attack on collegium system to record appointments in HCs, here are the top developments in 2022

India

oi-PTI

New
Delhi,
Dec
27:
Amid
a
renewed
attack
mounted
by
the
government
on
the
collegium
system
of
appointing
members
to
the
higher
judiciary,
a
”record”
138
judges
were
appointed
to
the
various
high
courts
this
year.

Law
Minister
Kiren
Rijiju,
who
has
been
questioning
the
collegium
system,
dubbed
it
as
being
”alien” to
the
Constitution.
He
also
said
that
the
issue
of
vacancies
and
appointments
in
the
higher
judiciary
would
continue
to
linger
till
such
time
a
new
system
is
created
for
the
same.

Seeking
to
overturn
the
collegium
system,
Parliament
had
passed
–
with
near
unanimity
–
the
National
Judicial
Appointments
Commission
Act
which
was
given
constitutional
status.

The
government
brought
into
force
the
Constitution
(Ninety-Ninth
Amendment)
Act,
2014
and
the
National
Judicial
Appointments
Commission
Act,
2014
on
April
13,
2015.
However,
both
the
Acts
were
challenged
in
the
Supreme
Court
which
eventually
declared
both
the
laws
as
unconstitutional
and
void
on
October
16,
2015.

Centre
vs
collegium:
Law
Minister
Kiren
Rijiju
says
govt
has
very
limited
role
in
judges
appointment

After
the
judgment,
the
collegium
system
returned.

In
a
recent
written
reply
in
Parliament,
Rijiju
had
said
that
”Representations
from
diverse
sources
on
lack
of
transparency,
objectivity
and
social
diversity
in
the
collegium
system
of
appointment
of
judges
to
the
constitutional
courts
(SC
and
the
HCs)
are
received
from
time
to
time
with
the
request
to
improve
this
system
of
appointment
of
judges.” But
at
the
same
time,
he
has
made
it
clear
that
there
is
no
proposal
at
present
to
reintroduce
a
bill
on
National
Judicial
Appointments
Commission
(NJAC).

Amid
a
standoff
between
the
government
and
the
Supreme
Court
Collegium
over
the
appointment
of
judges,
a
parliamentary
panel
had
recently
asked
the
Executive
and
the
Judiciary
to
come
up
with
an
”out
of
box
thinking”
to
deal
with
the
”perennial
problem”
of
vacancies
in
high
courts.

The
committee
also
said
that
it
is
‘surprised”
to
note
that
the
Supreme
Court
and
the
government
have
failed
to
reach
at
a
consensus
on
revision
of
the
Memorandum
of
Procedure
for
appointment
of
judges
to
the
Supreme
Court
and
the
high
courts,
though
the
same
is
under
consideration
of
both
for
”about
seven
years
now”.
The
committee
expected
the
government
and
the
judiciary
to
finalise
the
revised
MoP,
which
is
more
efficient
and
transparent.

MoP
is
a
set
of
documents
which
guide
the
appointment,
elevation
and
transfer
of
Supreme
Court
and
high
court
judges.

On
November
25,
the
government
asked
the
Supreme
Court
Collegium
to
reconsider
20
files
related
to
appointment
of
high
court
judges.
The
government
had
expressed
”strong
reservations”
about
the
recommended
names.

Out
of
the
20
cases,
11
were
fresh
cases
and
nine
were
reiterations
made
by
the
top
court
collegium.
Late
last
year,
Parliament
had
cleared
amendments
to
the
Representation
of
the
People
Act.

In
June
this
year,
the
government
issued
rules
allowing
linking
of
electoral
roll
data
with
Aadhaar
on
a
voluntary
basis,
making
electoral
law
gender
neutral
for
service
voters
and
enabling
young
citizens
register
as
voters
four
times
a
year
instead
of
the
present
one.

Now
a
citizen
who
turns
18
on
the
January
1
or
April
1
or
July
1
or
October
1
in
a
calendar
year
can
immediately
apply
for
voter
registration.
The
four
qualifying
dates
will
considerably
enhance
the
voter
base.

Collegium
recommends
elevation
of
5
HC
judges
to
Supreme
Court

Till
recently,
January
1
is
the
only
cut-off
date
to
register
as
a
voter.
Those
turning
18
on
or
before
January
1
can
register
as
voters
on
day
one
of
January.
Those
turning
18
after
that
have
to
wait
for
one
whole
year.
Seeking
to
make
electoral
law
gender
neutral,
the
word
”wife”
has
been
substituted
with
the
word
”spouse”
making
the
statutes
gender
neutral
which
will
allow
the
wife
or
husband
of
a
service
voter
to
avail
the
voting
facility
available.

Soldiers
deployed
in
far-flung
areas
or
members
of
Indian
missions
abroad
are
some
of
the
people
considered
as
service
voters.

An
army
man’s
wife
is
entitled
to
be
enrolled
as
a
service
voter,
but
a
woman
army
officer’s
husband
is
not,
according
to
provisions
in
the
electoral
law.
But
now
it
has
changed.

The
poll
panel
had
asked
the
law
ministry
to
replace
the
term
wife’
with
spouse’
in
the
provision
in
the
Representation
of
the
People
Act
related
to
service
voters.
Also,
retired
Karnataka
High
Court
chief
justice
Rituraj
Awasthi,
who
had
headed
the
bench
which
delivered
the
hijab
verdict,
took
charge
as
the
chairperson
of
the
22nd
Law
Commission.
The
current
law
panel
was
constituted
on
February
21,
2020,
but
its
chairperson
and
members
were
appointed
in
October,
months
before
the
end
of
the
panel’s
three-year
term.