New Delhi, March 21 (IANS) In the backdrop of the alleged ‘cash at home’ episode involving a Delhi High Court judge, former Solicitor General of India and senior advocate Harish Salve on Friday called for drastic changes in the system for judicial appointment to promote greater transparency.

He also said aspersions and unconfirmed allegations against the judiciary shake public faith, ultimately harming the democracy in which it is a coequal institution.

Calling the latest episode involving Justice Yashwant Varma of the Delhi High Court a wake-up call, he said that the system for judicial appointment that we have today is dysfunctional.

As per media reports, a huge amount of cash was found last week when a fire brigade went to Justice Varma’s residence to douse a fire.

Calling the latest controversy a reminder for change, he said, “We need to restart the discussion… This is an existential crisis. You have to save this institution.”

Salve also called upon the legislature, more specifically the members of Parliament, to collectively come up with suggestions for a refined and more transparent system for judicial appointments.

“I see the 500 people whom we have all voted to office have to put aside their political differences. This is one area in which they have to all sit down together, put their heads together, the collective wisdom of the 500 people we have sent to Parliament need to come up with a structure,” he said.

He also hit out at insinuations against the judiciary and the irreparable damage these cause to the reputation of people.

“We are living in very turbulent and different times. Today, this is not the 1960s, 70s and 80s whereby the time news came out, it took weeks and weeks and weeks. Today, it is the age of social media. An incident happens. It’s taken on video, and released in 15 minutes. The world knows what happened in your house 15 minutes ago,” he said, hinting at caution against unconfirmed reporting.

“I think the judiciary is a very coequal institution in a democracy. Can we live without a functioning judiciary? We can’t. And if we can’t live without a functioning judiciary, we have to strengthen it,” he said.

The current collegium system created in 1993 involves a group of senior judges, including the Chief Justice of India, deciding on the appointment and transfer of judges in the higher judiciary.

In an attempt to address these concerns, the government proposed the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC), which aimed to replace the collegium system with a body including non-judicial members, but this was ultimately struck down by the Supreme Court in 2014.

–IANS

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