There is a campaign to malign judiciary, collegium system has not failed: CJI

New Delhi: Supreme Court Chief Justice RM Lodha on Monday frowned at a campaign to run down the collegium system for the appointment of judges.

Justice Lodha, after dismissing a plea challenging the collegium system, said that there is a concerted campaign to defame judiciary and bring it to disrepute in the public eye.

“Don’t shake the confidence of the people in judiciary,” he said. “Collegium system has not failed.”

Defending the collegium system, Chief Justice Lodha said that he was the first of the judges to be appointed under the collegium system and at present all the judges of the supreme court and the high courts are the products of the collegium system.

He said if the collegium system has failed, then the products too have failed and entire system has failed.

He said the society was not perfect and the people coming from it are also not perfect but the same cannot be used to run down a system.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court dismissed a PIL seeking to make recommendation of collegium on appointment of judges public on its website.

Justice Lodha’s statements come after former Supreme Court judge and Press Council of India chairman Markandey Katju, a former Supreme Court Judge, had alleged that three former Chief Justices of India — Justice RC Lahoti and his successors Justices YK Sabharwal and KG Balakrishnan — made “improper compromises” and “succumbed” to political pressure in the extension of additional judge at the instance of UPA-I government owing to pressure from an ally, a “Tamil Nadu party”, and his confirmation as permanent judge.

(With inputs from PTI and IANS)