Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju Criticizes Agitation of Lawyers Objecting to Collegium Decisions
(Judicial Quest News Network)
The Union Minister for Law & Justice Kiren Rijiju on Saturday expressed displeasure over the protests made by lawyers of the High Courts of the Gujarat, Telangana and Madras against the recent proposals of transfers of the three Judges of respective Courts.
Citing the recent instance of bar members proposed meeting with CJI DY Chandrachud against the recommendation to transfer a High Court Judge
He said that when I saw lawyers are going for protest……abstaining from the courts organizing agitations on some issues then we have to think and decide whether this will be good for the institution or not. He asked the legal fraternity to respect the institution if you do not respect the institution, it will amount to disrespecting yourself.
He was speaking at a function organized by the Bar Council of India to felicitate the newly sworn-in- Chief Justice of India Dr. D Y Chandrachud,
He said that if such instances from the side of the Bar keep recurring, it will affect the institution of Judiciary.
“Yesterday I heard that some lawyers they want to meet CJI for transfer case. Now the issue may be in isolation, it may be one of the issues. But if it becomes recurring instances for every decision taken by Collegium or which is being supported by Government, then where will it lead to. The whole dimension will be change. It is not just Judiciary alone,”
A Seven Member delegation representing the Gujarat Bar is scheduled to meet the CJI DY Chandrachud on November 21, Monday to urge the Collegium to reconsider the decision.
The minister opined that to protect the robustness and independence of judiciary, the bar councils have to be strengthened. The conduct of the lawyer is also equally important.
He emphasised that if we have to ensure that Indian judiciary remains very robust then not only courts, not only 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 we see is, some of the views of the individual lawyers, takes prominence and it takes precedence over the opinion of the Bar Council of India. The issues may have different kind of response from the individuals. But what should matter is the opinion of the institution. If we want 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.
He added that he is not the member of the legal fraternity and that his statements reflect the views of the masses.
The three Bar Associations Gujarat High Court, Telangana High Court and Madras High Court bar associations had recently protested the transfer of Justice Nikhil Kariel of Gujarat High Court, 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 this situation.
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 of Justice Nikhil Kariel is withdrawn.
