Ravi Shankar Prasad raised questions on the SC order of retaining collegium

Questioning the Supreme Court’s order dismissing the National Judicial Appointments Commission, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad expressed surprise on Friday that when the Prime Minister can trusted on the use of nuclear weapons in the country, then why can’t he be trusted for the appointment of a judge.

The Supreme Court, in a judgment of 2015, revoked the system of appointing judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts through the collegium system, rejecting the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act. Prasad said that the government respects the order of the Supreme Court but is not satisfied with the logic of rejecting this law.

Prasad while giving a lecture on the “Legal and Digital Challenges for India after Covid-19”, said that the government-related programs in the digitization of more than 16 thousand courts of the country have proved quite useful. Referring to the order of the Supreme Court regarding the Judicial Appointments Commission, he said that the Supreme Court has arranged that the Law Minister is a member of the Appointment Commission, so the appointment from that post will not be fair and objective when the case against the government Will come.

Prasad said, “If there is any doubt on the purpose of appointment with the mere joining of the Law Minister, then it is a very controversial question.” We are all accountable to the Prime Minister because he is the head of government.

He said, “The people of India trust the Prime Minister to ensure the integrity and security of India. “You all know that the Prime Minister has the nuclear button (the right to decide to use nuclear weapons). The Prime Minister can be trusted to work for a lot of things in the country but the Prime Minister who is assisted (working with) the Law Minister cannot be trusted to appoint an impartial judge?”