‘Give CJI fixed tenure; give reasons for rejection of candidate in writing’

NEW DELHI: As the Government and the judiciary exchange barbs over rising vacancies in courts, a Parliamentary committee today recommended increasing the retirement age of Supreme Court judges and fixing a “minimum tenure” for the Chief Justice of India and chief justices of high courts to ease shortage.

In its report tabled today, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Personnel was critical of the Government and the judiciary for not sticking to timelines to fill up vacancies in high courts.

Seeking to make the present system of appointment of judges more transparent, the committee said the SC Collegium should inform the candidates whose name it has rejected on a particular ground.

It said the Government also rejects the recommendations of the collegium “without furnishing cogent reasons…Such practices are against the principles of natural justice and leads to opaqueness in the appointment process”. (AGENCIES)