Delhi High Court Bar Association for checks and balances in collegium system

Delhi High Court Bar Association for checks and balances in collegium system

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: Sharing the opinion of the retiring Delhi High Court Chief Justice A. P. Shah on elevation of High Court judges to the Supreme Court, Delhi High Court Bar Association president A. S. Chandhiok on Friday said it is high time some checks and balances are introduced in the existing collegium system to make the elevation process more transparent and non-controversial.

He said the collegium needs to be in constant touch with the bar associations to have a clear picture of the judges under consideration for elevation. Acknowledging the privilege of the collegium to take a final decision on the matter, he said interaction with the bar associations would help it avoid pitfalls.

The existing sources for getting a feedback on judges proposed to be elevated had on certain occasions in the past given wrong information about certain judges, he said. In one case, a government agency had mistakenly declared a judge a “boozer” though the fact was that it was his nick name, Mr. Chandhiok added.

He suggested that the collegium put the names of the judges under consideration for elevation and their details on the Supreme Court’s website and give an opportunity to the public to express their opinion. “This will play a great role in making the elevation process foolproof,” Mr. Chandhiok said.

Talking to The Hindu, Mr. Chandhiok said the bar also needs to put its house in order to retain the faith of the people in the justice delivery system.

Referring to the emotional outpouring of Justice Shah on Thursday over his supersession for elevation to the Supreme Court, Mr. Chandhiok said Justice Shah through his expression of anguish had drawn the attention of the legal fraternity that something required to be done urgently to see that what happened in his case did not occur in future. “Every person connected with the justice delivery system is aggrieved over the by-passing of Justice Shah,” Mr. Chandhiok stated.

As for questions being raised about the high fees charged by top lawyers and thereby making themselves inaccessible to litigants hailing from weaker sections of society, Mr. Chandhiok said he was in favour of enacting legislation to make it obligatory for top lawyers to appear for poor litigants free at the request of the Legal Services Authority in at least one or two cases every month.

He said he was planning to write to the Union Law Ministry in this regard.