Singhvi backs SC collegium move against appointing judges' kin
New Delhi (PTI): Hailing the Supreme Court collegium proposal against the appointment of close kin of the judges in the high courts, noted lawyer and Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi has said they should be implemented sooner as judicial appointments are "non objective" that originally conceived.
"If true, both proposals under SC collegium consideration, seemingly radical, are good and should be implemented sooner rather than later," Singhvi said in a post on X.
"Reality of judicial appointments is much murkier and much much more non objective than originally conceived. Mutual Back scratching, uncle judges, family lineages etc demoralise others and bring disrepute to institution," he said.
"But easier said than done: till now we are unable to even ban lawyer relatives practising in same HC as judge relatives. Time and again the system has proved stronger than desirable impulses for reform," Singhvi lamented.
The Congress leader said he wrote decades ago that collegium judges should disguise themselves and sit in courts of those judges being considered for elevation or lawyers in action before elevation.
"Like some sultans of old used to do in ancient times to learn what are the real problems of their fiefdom. We would all be astonished (and scared) at the hiatus between cv and reality, between paper appraisal versus court performance. Interviews proposed now not as good as my suggestion but at least second best, though surprise checks in disguise not entirely unrealistic!!," he said in his post.
The apex court collegium may consider an idea against the appointment of close kin of the judges in the high courts, sources have said.
The proposal if acted upon could bring more inclusivity in such appointments and erase the perception of lineage outweighing merit in judicial appointments.
According to sources, the collegium could consider the idea of instructing the high court collegiums to refrain from recommending candidates, whose parents or close relatives were current or former Supreme Court or high court judges.
While this proposal may disqualify some deserving candidates, one of the sources believed it would open up opportunities for first-generation lawyers and broaden the representation of diverse communities in the constitutional courts.
However, this may lead to unjust denial of judgeship to deserving people just because they are related to sitting or former judges of the higher judiciary, added the source.
The three-member collegium, which recommends names for the judgeship in the apex court at the moment, comprises Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant.
Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Abhay S Oka are also part of the larger five-member apex court collegium that decides and recommends names for judgeship in the high courts.
The apex court collegium recently started personal interactions with the lawyers and judicial officers recommended for elevation in the high courts, marking a significant leap from the traditional biodata, written assessments and intelligence reports.
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Cristiano Ronaldo scores his 100th Saudi Pro League goal
Riyadh (AP): Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th Saudi Pro League goal as Al-Nassr beat Al-Shabab 4-2 to move five points clear at the top of the table.
The 41-year-old forward converted a Sadio Mané cross at the near post with 15 minutes remaining to record the 971st goal of his career on Thursday. It was also his 26th league goal of the season.
“Ronaldo is always dangerous going forward and we saw that again today,” Al-Nassr coach Jorge Jesus said.
João Félix, signed from Chelsea in July, scored three goals for the league leaders.
The win took Al-Nassr to 82 points from 32 games, five ahead of Al-Hilal, which has three matches, one more than Nassr, left to play. Al-Hilal meets Al-Kholood on Friday and faces Nassr on Tuesday in what could be a title decider against its Riyadh rival.
“Now we have a derby match against our rival, which is a difficult encounter,” Jesus said.
“We are fully aware of its importance, and we are dealing with it with complete focus as we know that small details could decide the result.”
Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d'Or winner, has yet to secure a major trophy in Saudi Arabia since signing with Al-Nassr in December 2022.
