New Delhi: Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium wanted that uncle-son/uncle judge syndrome must be addressed in the collegium system of appointing judges.
It is important to bear in mind that the promotion of sons by other judges while their sons are promoted by judges in other courts is a pernicious practice and it should be stopped forthwith. It is necessary to transfer all judges in India whose relatives are practising in that particular High Court.
He suggested that no judge of the High Court or the Supreme Court must accept a post-retirement job. Parliament must enact a law by which the last pay drawn must be given to them as pension. He pointed out that post-retirement job for judges is one of the favours which the executive has in its hand to ‘squint’ the independence of judiciary.
Former Union law minister and eminent lawyer Ram Jethmalani said there must be much larger degree of transparency in the matter of judicial appointments.
Applications may be invited and those who are to be considered for the appointment must be made known to the people of the country. It is in public interest to give reasons why the advice given to the appointing authority was not considered.
In a representation advocates K.N. Govindacharya and Virag Gupta pointed out that as per Bar Council of India report at least 30 per cent advocates may be operating through fake law degrees.
They wanted the Collegium to insist on a ‘disclosure affidavit’ that the degree is genuine and if it turned out to be fake then he is liable to be removed from judgeship.
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