NEW DELHI: Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Sunday said in merit-based selections, women secure more than 50% of judicial officers’ posts across states, but in the collegium’s subjective assessment criteria, only a minuscule get selected as judges of high courts and SC.Addressing the Supreme Court Bar Association’s first national conference at Bengaluru, Justice Bhuyan said that judicial services across states had a very good representation of women, some even crossing the 50% mark. “But has it been replicated in constitutional courts? That is the question. That is where the scrutiny of the collegium system comes in. Why is it that when the assessment becomes subjective, women do not make the grade? Out of 287 SC judges since 1950, we had a total of only 11 women judges. Why? Starting with Fathima Beevi and now Justice Nagarathna, it is some 2%,” he said.Justice Bhuyan said women made up only 14% of HC judges. “In the 25 HCs, we have only two women chief justices (CJs) – Gujarat and Meghalaya. One more will become CJ in a month’s time. That is also highly inadequate, three out of 25 HCs,” he said. “My research shows that whenever the recruitment process is objective, more women enter the judicial space. When India becomes a developed nation (Viksit Bharat by 2047), there should be more parity in gender representation in judiciary. SC must be a rainbow institution, truly reflecting the diversity of the nation,” Justice Bhuyan said.Former CJI B R Gavai said there were multiple SC rulings that stated if the name of a person recommended for judgeship in an HC was returned for reconsideration by govt and reiterated by the collegium, govt had no option but to appoint them. “But there are many instances where even after repeated reiterations, the persons have not been appointed,” he said, adding, “The collegium is not a perfect system but at least for the time being, it is best suited for the country.“He said the judiciary had been criticised mainly for its inability to tackle arrears and backlogs, delay in disposal of cases at various levels, lack of transparency in administrative decision-making (appointment of judges), long vacations, and lack of diversity, particularly representation of women in constitutional courts.The former CJI said SC had erred on many instances, including in the first major judgment related to right to life in the A K Gopalan case to the Emergency-era A D M Jabalpur case. “Criticism is important for any institution, including the judiciary,” he said.He recalled the first speech of the first CJI, Harilal Jekisondas Kania, who had said SC must operate independent of the legislature and the executive while interpreting the Constitution as a living document.Justice Bhuyan said, “SC must earn the respect of citizens, not demand it… Judicial power relies not just on law but trust and legitimacy. Accountability, integrity and transparency must be made essential for the judiciary to function effectively in a democratic society. The judiciary neither has the purse nor the sword. Its only asset is the goodwill of people, which is the core of judicial strength.”He said in a developed nation, institutions must have functional autonomy. “Investigating agencies as well as the media should be able to discharge their duties without any political interference or control. Development should be in accordance with directive principles of state policy and no one should be left out of development, especially those who have been historically neglected.”
