Can't have a litigant decide who will be a judge, says lawyer

Activist lawyer Colin Gonsalves today accused the government of interfering in the affairs of the judiciary and said a litigant cannot decide who a judge will be.

"In my opinion, the system of 'judges selecting judges' is better than the executive selecting them. You cannot have a litigant (government) decide as to who will be a judge," he said at a citizen's conclave here on 'Building An Inclusive India'.

Gonsalves spoke about the alleged sour relations between the executive and the judiciary and said the "battle had started with the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act issue where the Centre had tried to bring in a dangerous legislation of giving the government a role in appointing judges".

"Thanks to the bench headed by Justice J S Khehar (who later became the CJI) that it was held unconstitutional," he said at a session on 'judiciary and rule of law' moderated by former Bombay High Court's Justice B G Kolse Patil.

Gonsalves said "when the government lost the battle, they started another battle by not appointing judges at all. There is a huge crisis in judiciary and they are virtually killing it."