The Union Finance Minister, Mr Arun Jaitly , like any other citizen, has a right to air his views on the recent Supreme Court judgement . But his comment ‘ tyranny of the unelected’ is very much unbecoming of a politician of his stature and the constitutional position he holds . Does his comment mean that people should be acceptable to the ‘tyranny of the elected’ ? He conveniently forgot that he himself was not directly elected by people!
The issue before the nation is the independence, impartiality and competence of the judges at high positions. The judiciary and the judgement itself, has acknowledged the limitations of the current collegium system. It needs reforms. A ‘self correction’ was the ideal solution. In the absence of that foresight , the parliament got involved. The aim is to correct and perfect a system, not that the parliament or politicians to have a say in the appointment of the judges. The way the politicians are reacting gives an impression of ‘having lost an opportunity’ to control another important organ of the state.That exactly is one of the apprehensions the judgement highlighted.
System needs a correction, one attempt was made. Its short comings are pointed out. The judgement itself commits to have a relook at the current system. So I feel, we need to be a bit more patient , let the judiciary come with its solution which basically comes down to transparency and accountability: "Reform that you may preserve"!
The issue before the nation is the independence, impartiality and competence of the judges at high positions. The judiciary and the judgement itself, has acknowledged the limitations of the current collegium system. It needs reforms. A ‘self correction’ was the ideal solution. In the absence of that foresight , the parliament got involved. The aim is to correct and perfect a system, not that the parliament or politicians to have a say in the appointment of the judges. The way the politicians are reacting gives an impression of ‘having lost an opportunity’ to control another important organ of the state.That exactly is one of the apprehensions the judgement highlighted.
System needs a correction, one attempt was made. Its short comings are pointed out. The judgement itself commits to have a relook at the current system. So I feel, we need to be a bit more patient , let the judiciary come with its solution which basically comes down to transparency and accountability: "Reform that you may preserve"!
