Why in news?
Within a month of retiring from the Supreme Court of India, Justice S. Abdul Nazeer’s appointment as Governor of Andhra Pradesh has stirred debates on post retirement appointments.
What is the issue?
- Justice Nazeer (retd), was part of the five-judge bench that delivered the November 2019 Ayodhya verdict.
- The former Supreme Court judge also headed the five-judge Constitution bench that upheld the Centre’s decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes in 2016.
- Opposition leaders questioned the appointment of a former Supreme Court judge as a Governor as the move signals that pre-retirement judgments are influenced by the desire of a post-retirement job.
- Appointment of Justice P. Sathasivam as Governor of Kerala and Justice Ranjan P. Gogoi as a member of the Rajya Sabha has already stirred the debate.
What is the problem with such appointments?
- Corrupt the judges
- Encourage a culture of sycophancy to get advantage
- Affect the independence of the judiciary
- Makes the public have less faith in the judiciary
- Against the separation of powers
- Undermine the constitutional values of impartiality in the dispensation of justice
Article 50 - The State shall take steps to separate the judiciary from the executive in the public services of the State
What is the need of the hour?
- Clear demarcation - The Indian judiciary must distinguish between political favours and other post-retirement employment opportunities.
- There needs to be a demarcation between roles where the presence of a judicial authority is clearly valuable.
- Role of judicial community - The judicial community should take a concerted decision of not taking up any appointments upon retirement stemming from political patronage.
- Cooling period - A cooling period of about 2 years should be considered a mandatory minimum before a judge agrees to take on any post-retirement adjudicatory role.
Law Commission had consistently maintained that judges accepting employment under the government after retirement was undesirable as it could affect the independence of the judiciary.
Quick facts
- Article 224A - Deals with appointment of ad-hoc judges in high courts
- It says that the chief justice of a high court, may, with the consent of the President, request any person who has held the office of a judge of that court or of any other high court, to sit and act as a judge of the high court for that state.
- Ad-hoc judges are appointed for a period of two to three years.
References
- The Hindu | Post-retirement appointments
- The Hindu | Justice Nazeer among new Governors appointed by President
- The Hindu | Justice Abdul Nazeer, who was on Ayodhya Bench, retires
