Appointment Of Judges: Accountability Vs Independence

Tushti Wadhwa, LLM Constitutional Law, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh

ABSTRACT

The Supreme Court itself invented the distinctive aspect of how judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts are appointed in that principal appointing body. The Supreme Court's ruling in the Second Judges' Case1 gave rise to the judicial collegium, which has had the final say on judge nominations for the past twenty-five years The collegium is not mentioned in the provisions of the Constitution.

Several moments of intense conflict between the administration and the judicial system came before the collegium's founding. Although the collegium's founding was considered as a declaration of judicial independence, it has generated a number of issues due to its murky operation, dubious decisions, and blatant lack of participation from interested parties.

The appointment process for judges in India is stimulating. It functions as an alert that creating an appointment system for judges, solicitors, and parliamentarians in India is a difficult process involving a number of political and legal elements. Considering there exists no "right" way to nominate judges for these courts, it additionally acts as an indicator to other nations that may be having issues with judicial nominations.

This paper will explain that how under the garb of judicial independence, judicial accountability has taken a back seat and constant invalidation of the constitutional principle of division of powers being normalised.

Keywords: Supreme Court, appointment, collegium, judicial independence, constitution, judicial accountability.