We take the final call, SC tells centre on judges' appointments

"You have the right to reject, but we take the final call," the Supreme Court's collegium said while clearing the Memorandum of Procedure on appointment of judges. The SC's collegium which met on Friday decided on the 'veto power' to the centre to reject a candidate.

The collegium headed by Chief Justice of India J S Khehar gave the liberty to the centre to reject the name of any judge on grounds of national security. It said that the Centre should give the reasons in writing for rejecting a judge, but also added that the final power to reject or approve the name will continue to remain with the collegium.

The centre and the judiciary were at logger heads after the MoP was rolled out. The MoP brought in to ensure that there is more transparency in the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary. There were various contentious issues and the matter was lying with the collegium for clearance for the past 15 months.

During the meeting, the collegium rejected the proposal to set up an independent secretariat to screen names of judges. The existing mechanism under which the personal staff of the five judges part of the collegium was sufficient. Appointing an independent secretariat would impinge upon the independence of the judiciary, the collegium felt. It also felt that there was a chance of the names being leaked.

OneIndia News