SC Collegium Publishing RAW & IB Inputs On Recommended Names A Serious Issue: Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju

Addressing the media at the Felicitation of Award Winners of the e-courts Project, the Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju today said that putting out RAW & IB inputs on candidates recommended for elevation in the public domain by the Supreme Court Collegium is a "serious issue".

He added that making the secret or sensitive report of RAW and IB public is a matter of grave concern which will be addressed in due time. 

"(Putting) secret or sensitive reports of the RAW or IB in the public domain is a matter of grace concern which I will react at an appropriate time. I can say this much, if the concerned officer, who is working for the nation in disguise or in a secretive manner, will think twice that his/her report is going to be in the public domain. It will have an implication," he said.

The Union Law Minister made this remark while responding to a question concerning the Supreme Court collegium's recent statements putting on record the reasons to reject the objections raised by the Central Government to recommendations made regarding the judges' appointment.

However, Union Law Minister did add that he doesn't want to go into the details of the matter saying that the press briefing today is to mainly discuss the good work done by the e-committee.

It may be recalled that the SC Collegium while reiterating the names of 5 advocates for elevation to various High Courts, made public objections raised by the Law Ministry pertaining to 3 candidates: Saurabh Kirpal (Delhi High Court), Somasekaran Sundaresan (Bombay High Court), John Sathyan (Madras High Court).

Read more about the objections raised by the Centre and collegium's take on that here: In A First, Supreme Court Collegium Puts On Record Reasons To Reject Centre's Objections To Proposals

This remark was made by him a day after he said that judges do not have to face elections or public scrutiny after their appointment but they are being watched by the people as nothing is hidden in the age of social media.

In his address today, he also spoke about the efforts being made to reduce the pendency of cases. He said that that the Department of Justice is constantly working in close coordination with the e-committee of the Supreme Court of India under the guidance of CJI DY Chandrachudwe and is focusing on the issue of solving the pendency of cases.

"Justice must be delivered at fastest possible pace, as today around 4.90 crores cases are pending across the courts. We should focus more on the technology enablement of courts, which will play pivotal role in reducing this caseload...We are here to do whatever is necessary and whatever is possible, we are working with the Judiciary, we are working with he Supreme Court and the High Courts. One organ of the state alone can't do everything so it has to be a combined efforts" he further remarked.

Continuing to voice his opinion regarding the Collegium System on public forums, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju recently said that the collegium system to appoint judges, which is an administrative job, is keeping the judges 'extremely busy' taking away their precious time, thereby adversely impacting their duties as judges.