Former Chief Justice of India UU Lalit said today that the collegium system of appointment of judges is a perfect model in a way. Addressing an event organized by the Campaign for 'Judicial Accountability and Reforms' (CJAR) on 'Judicial Appointments and Reforms', Justice Lalit said there is a strict process of recommending names of judges in constitutional courts.

Justice Lalit while addressing the gathering said, “I believe we do not have a better system than the collegium system. If we do not have anything better than the collegium system in terms of quality, then we should work in the direction that the collegium system should exist. The model we work on today is almost perfect."

Justice Lalit, who retired in November 2022, said the judiciary is in a better position to judge the merit of capable candidates as their work is observed over a period of years. "When the matter reaches the Supreme Court collegium, there is a very firm position where the name may or may not be accepted," he said.

On the issue of the collegium system, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar had recently said that by striking down the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJC), the Supreme Court had gravely compromised parliamentary sovereignty and insulted the mandate. The Parliament enacted the NJAC through an Act. In this, there was a provision to end the collegium system of appointment of judges in the Supreme Court and High Courts. The apex court had rejected it as unconstitutional.

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju has many times criticized the collegium system many times. Once Rijiju had said that I have seen that the Supreme Court has given a warning. The people of this country are the owners of this country. We are servants. Everyone is a servant. have come to serve. If someone is the owner then it is public. And our guide is the Constitution. According to the constitution, the country will be run by the thinking of the people.