‘Sane view’, says Union law minister Kiren Rijiju of high court ex-judge’s collegium criticism

NEW DELHI: Amid the ongoing wrangle between the Centre and the judiciary over appointment of judges through the collegium system, Union law minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday

cited in his Twitter handle an interview of Justice RS Sodhi (retd), a former judge of the Delhi high court. Sodhi had remarked that the Supreme Court “has for the first time

hijacked the Constitution” to such an extent that judges have decided to appoint judges, negating the role of the government. Commenting on the interview, Rijiju tweeted:

“Voice of a judge. . . Real beauty of Indian democracy is its success. People rule themselves through their representatives. Elected representatives represent the interests of the

people and make laws. Our judiciary is independent and our Constitution is supreme. ” In his YouTube interview, Sodhi had said it’s the lawmakers who have the right to frame

laws. “If there’s a deadlock between the government and the Supreme Court, who ultimately decides? It’s the President. He appoints judges, and how does he do it? With the counsel

of the council of ministers,” he said, emphasising that Parliament is supreme in a democracy as its members are elected by the people of the country. “Can you amend the

Constitution? Only Parliament will amend Constitution. But, here, I feel the Supreme Court has for the first time hijacked the Constitution. After hijacking, they (SC) said: ‘We

will appoint (judges) ourselves and the government will have no role in it’,” Sodhi had remarked.