Earlier, Vijender Jain (previous Chief Justice) wrote me a letter. But he was about to retire, had less than two weeks, I think. The committee decided that since he was retiring, we should wait for the new Chief Justice. There was no allegation against any judge; it was brother-in-law of somebody, or something like that. We don’t know who was calling whom and the judge (Mehtab Singh Gill) had no role, he was not in the interview board (to select judicial officers). Then the present Chief Justice sent a report that these allegations are not correct. There is lot of politics in Punjab; this (tapping) could be its fall-out. If there is anything, we can always transfer a judge.

On the issue of selection of HC judges, there have been demands that politicians should have role, or a reversion to the pre-1993 system or, at least, making the system more transparent. Sometime back, the House panel headed by EMS Natchiappan said everything while making appointments should be made public, put on the internet, including the Intelligence Bureau report. Your views?

While finalising appointments to the Supreme Court, we mainly consider sitting Chief Justices. We know which CJ is doing what. As for appointment of HC judges and the collegium system, I don’t say that everything is alright. Nobody is perfect. We (judges) are also human beings. But when we are selecting the candidate, we try to get the best candidate. Of course, a committee consisting of persons conversant with the system and who are aware of the candidate can also be there. As for including Parliamentarians, while naming an office will not be right, suppose some person who is very busy in the government is in the committee, will he have the time? We meet frequently, sometimes there is a retirement within two weeks and we have to make the recommendation. Can we wait? But ultimately, it is for the Parliament to decide.

... contd.