Executive loses say in tribunal postings

`CJ Most Appropriate To Name Heads'

After quashing the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) to keep intact its dominance in appointment of judges, the Supreme Court on Monday took another step to eliminate the executive's role in the statute-envisaged consultation process for appointment of heads of judicial tribunals. The matter, before a bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur, concerned appointing the president and judicial member of the Gujarat State Cooperative Tribunal. The earlier practice was that the chief justice of the high court would send a panel of names of retired judicial officers and the state government would pick two from that list and send it back for the CJ's approval.
But, in a recent judgment, the HC said this practice did not reflect the primacy that the CJ deserved in choosing the president and judicial member of a quasi-judicial tribunal. It ordered that henceforth the CJ would send two names for the two posts and the government must appoint them. It also said that if the government finds something amiss in their names, it could approach the CJ for a fresh name.
Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi, who had recently ended up on the losing side in the pitched legal battle to save NJAC in its constitutional validity test, appeared for the state and argued that the judiciary could not alter the consultation process for appointment of heads of judicial tribunals by citing the approach adopted by the apex court for selection of judges to the SC and HCs on the ground of maintaining the independence of judiciary . “Can the HC say that the CJ will send only one name and that is binding on the government? This is trenching upon the power of the state and the CJ. Where is the question of the CJ giving only one name,“ he argued.
Thakur said for the primacy of the judiciary, the CJ was supremely suitable to determine the suitability of a person to head a tribunal with judicial powers.“Why should the government insist on a panel? This is a judicial forum. If you have problem with a name you can always get back to the CJ for a fresh name. If the CJ is suggesting a name, the government must appoint him,“ he said.
The SC entertained the appeal by the state but asked it to make the tribunal functional by appointing the president and judicial member on the basis of names suggested by the CJ of the HC.“We will decide later whether the process was appropriate,“ it said.

Sources: TNN