RSTV - The Big Picture: The Corruption In Higher Judiciary

• Supreme Court dismissed the petition of the Medical college bribery case plea seeking an SIT probe into alleged judicial corruption involving a blacklisted Lucknow medical college.
• The FIR filed by CBI in the matter was not against any sitting judge of the court. 

• The verdict was that CJI (considered as the master of the roster) alone had the power to assign a case to a bench even if there were allegations against him in any case. 


• This was laid down in the order of the five-judge Constitution Bench on November 10.
• The three-judge bench held: It is contempt to imply that the Chief Justice would assign it to a 
bench, which would not pass an order adverse to him.
• Finally, such decision shows that there are conflicting opinions about the judges, which is detrimental to any
democracy because this can lose the confidence in the independent judiciary. 


Three Judges case

 First judge’s case: chief justice of India does not have primacy over executive in the matter of appointment of judges of Supreme Court and High Courts.

• Second judge’s case: judiciary will be the ̳de facto‘ appointing authority of themselves curtailing the power of council of ministers under Article 74(1). 

• Third judges case: nine judges Bench again established that the opinions of the collegium of judges have primacy in appointing and transfer of judges of higher judiciary.
• Based on this decision detailed Memorandum of Procedure was prepared, which took the form of present collegiums system. 


Who should be the deciding of the roaster? 


• Appropriate machinery is required to ensure that there is no scope of corruption left in Indian judiciary. 

• The mechanism of impeachment is a long drawn process and is seen that it doesn’t work in reality. 

• Establishment of a mechanism to ensure more 
transparency in order to build confidence in our chief justice and our justice system.
• Anything against the Judiciary has to be dealt with by the legal as they introspect and truly discover a technique, which is pretty much consistent, which has the assent of the considerable number of judges.

Conclusion:

• Higher judiciary of this country is an esteemed organization of the government. However, the lawyers are making such allegation, which questions the credibility. 

• The need of the hour is establishing a mechanism, a quick disposal or a redressal body which either the Supreme Court invents itself or like the National Judicial Commission (NJAC) should have come into place to counter the absence of institutional making mechanism to deal with such situations. 


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