On January 20, Ranjan Gogoi, former Chief Justice of India (CJI), urged for statesmanship from both the executive and the Supreme Court in the middle of their ongoing dispute.

Speaking at the Surat Literature Festival, the former Chief Justice of India and Rajya Sabha MP mentioned the "storm blowing over the Collegium system."

He said that rather than disparaging the judiciary in public forums, the administration should explore changes to the Collegium system elsewhere if it believes they are necessary.

"It calls for astute, leadership and statesmanship from both sides. It is not a question of who is superior or who should have the last say in the matter of appointment of judges. If the appointments need changes as the political executive feels then an appropriate place to discuss is elsewhere and not public platforms where you take potshots at the judiciary. If judges feel there is a point then judicial seat is not the place to address it from."

Justice Gogoi emphasised that both parties must have a great deal of responsibility in this situation.

Kiren Rijiju, the Union Law Minister, has been vocal about his concerns with the current method of selecting justices through the Supreme Court Collegium over the past twelve or so months.

Rijiju had stated, among other things, that until the process for choosing judges is modified, concerns about the backlog of cases in Indian courts will persist.

In a recent letter to Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, he suggested the inclusion of government officials in the Supreme Court and High Court Collegiums.

Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is a Senior Advocate and has also been critical of the Collegium, was another vocal supporter of the Law Minister.

The Collegium also retaliated by publishing a number of decrees on the website of the Supreme Court on Thursday that outlined in full the reasons why the Law Ministry was preventing many lawyers from becoming judges.

In his speech today, Justice Gogoi stated that the number of pending cases is a serious issue that needs the special attention of all parties involved.

He further emphasised how the government was not assisting in this respect because it remained to be the main plaintiff.

"The problem with our country is no one wants to take decisions or responsibilities. For the smallest of things attitude is if we are take to decision we are to be penalized. Parliamentary committees or superiors will ask hundreds of questions. So (they think) best is not to do it and go to courts , let court decide and we will implement," he said.

The former CJI bemoaned the absence of dialogue regarding the repeal or reexamination of legacy laws.

He asked why criminal appeals take as long as they do, making some cases infructuous, especially in the larger High Courts.

"Murder trials etc take 3 years but it gets stuck in appellate stage. How many appeals in bigger High Courts like Allahabad etc have become infructuous because accused is no more ? Has an excercise been done ? No."

"Are we looking for people for whom judgeship is not a 9-to-5 job but about passion and commitment? Have the right person at the right place and you do not have to worry about judge to population ratio. Get people with commitment and people who have commitment, identify them and protect them. I know many young people who became judges but regretted it because system could not protect them."

The Rajya Sabha MP further stated that venues like this one are not the best place to discuss divisive topics like the Uniform Civil Code.