Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju Criticises Lawyers' Protests; Says Not Good To Question Every Collegium Decision Which Has Govt Support

The Union Minister for Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju on Saturday criticised the protests made by lawyers of the High Courts of the Gujarat, Telangana and Madras against the proposals made by the Supreme Court collegium for the transfer of judges.

Without expressly taking the name of any bar association, the Minister said, "When I saw lawyers going for protest...I heard some information that some lawyers are going for some strike on some issues. And in the days to come, these are some of the things which we may see more frequently. We have to think and we have to decide whether this will be good for the institution or not. If you don't respect the institution, it will amount to disrespecting yourself".

Speaking at a function organised by the Bar Council of India to felicitate the newly sworn-in Chief Justice of India Dr Justice DY Chandrachud, the Minister said "when there are things which are becoming too loud in terms of putting forward your demands, then it has a risk of taking a different turn".

The Minister also said that if every decision of the collegium, which have the support of the Government, is questioned, then it will lead to problems.

"Yesterday I heard that lawyers want to meet CJI over a transfer case [transfer of Nikhil Kariel J of Gujarat HC]. Now the issue may be, if you look in isolation, it may be one of the issues. But if this becomes a recurring instance for every decision taken by the collegium, which is being supported by the govt, then where will it lead to? Then, the whole dimension will change".

The Minister opined that to protect the robustness and independence of judiciary, the bar councils have to be strengthened. The conduct of the lawyers is also equally important.

"If we have to ensure that Indian judiciary remains very robust then not only courts, not only the judges, but the Bar Council of India and all the bar councils have to be strengthened. Because, if individuals start asserting their opinion much more than the institution, there is danger. What is see is, some of the views of individual lawyers, takes prominence and it takes precedence over the opinion of the Bar Council of India. The stand of issues may have different kind of response from the individuals. But what should matter is the opinion of the institution. If we have to ensure that the judiciary is respected, independence of judiciary is maintained, it is not only the conduct of the judges but the conduct of the lawyers is also equally necessary and critical. There is always this talk of bar and bench. Definitely, two sides of the same coin. So it has to be always together".

Rijiju added that he is not a member of the legal fraternity and that his statements reflect the views of the masses.

"Sometimes it is good for the country that the law minister does not know the law much. If am part of the so-called lawyers community, then my outlook and my perception will be typical of a lawyer. If I say something, which I definitely stand for, that is the reflection of the common people of the country. So my observations are simply picked up from the opinion of the masses and I put it across in the simplest of the terms".

The proposals to transfer Justice Nikhil Kariel of Gujarat High Court and Justice Abhishek Reddy of Telangana High Court to the Patna High Court and Acting Chief Justice T Raja of the Madras High Court to Rajasthan High Court have led to protests by the respective bar associations. The Gujarat High Court Advocates Association was the first to raise the protest by resolving to abstain from work indefinitely till the proposal to transfer Justice Kariel is withdrawn. Then the protest spread to the Telangana High Court, with the lawyers resolving to boycott courts till the proposal regarding Justice Reddy's transfer is withdrawn. The Madras High Court Advocates Association too joined the protest later regarding the proposal to transfer Acting Chief Justice T Raja.