New Delhi: In order "to ensure transparency", the Supreme Court has finally opened up its doors to greater transparency in matters of judicial appointments.
Giving in to a long-standing demand, the SC Collegium, comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, has resolved to make all its recommendations public on the Supreme Court website.
The Collegium also includes the four other senior-most judges, Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph.
The Collegium passed the resolution on October 3, maintaining that their recommendations to the government regarding appointment, transfer and elevation of judges will henceforth be published on the SC website.
The details will also indicate the reasons for making particular recommendations, which will ensure objectivity.
On Friday morning, the SC website added a separate tab for "Collegium Resolutions" for putting information about appointments, transfers and elevation of constitutional court judges.
The October 3 resolution read: "The decisions henceforth taken by the Collegium indicating the reasons shall be put on the website of the Supreme Court, when the recommendation(s) is/are sent to the Government of India, with regard to the cases relating to initial elevation to the High Court Bench, confirmation as permanent Judge(s) of the High Court, elevation to the post of Chief Justice of High Court, transfer of High Court Chief Justices / Judges and elevation to the Supreme Court, because on each occasion the material which is considered by the Collegium is different."
It further specified: "The Resolution is passed to ensure transparency and yet maintain confidentiality in the Collegium system."
The SC Collegium has been often criticised for its opaqueness and lack of objective criteria for assessing candidates.
The Collegium and the government have failed to reach a consensus regarding a new Memorandum of Procedure (MoP), which has to guide all future appointments.
While finalization of the MoP remains pending after the CJI sent the Collegium's draft around five months ago, the Collegium's resolution has broken new grounds in sending a signal that SC is not averse to letting people know how are judges are appointed.
This is also likely to be seen as a major move by new CJI Dipak Misra, who is likely to appoint 10 judges in the Supreme Court and will make endeavour to fill up huge vacancies in 24 high courts across the country.
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