Three Judges' Cases/ Collegium System

The present system of appointment of Judges in the higher judiciary, the Collegium system, developed with a series of Supreme Court Judgements, popularly known as the Three Judges’ Cases. These are:

1.      S.P Gupta v. Union of India, AIR  1982 SC 149

2.      Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association v. Union of India, (1993) 4 SCC 441

3.      In re: Special Reference 1 of 1998, (1998) 7 SCC 739

The first case was a batch of Writ Petitions filed in various High Courts across the country against the circular by the then Law Minister, Mr Shiv Shankar, whereby all additional judges in High Courts were to be transferred as permanent judges to other states so that at least one third of the judges in the State High Courts were from elsewhere. All the Writ Petitions aimed to challenge the constitutional validity of this circular. These petitions were transferred to the Supreme Court under Article 139 of the Constitution.

The relevant point in this case is the observation of the court regarding the primacy of the President’s decision in appointment of judges. It was observed that the President can “refuse” CJI’s recommendation for “cogent” reasons.

The second case overruled the earlier decision in SP Gupta case. This judgment emphasised on the primacy of the recommendation of the Chief Justice of India regarding judicial appointments.

The third judges’ case was a Presidential reference under Article 143 of the Constitution  seeking a clarification on the powers of the CJI and the procedure for appointment of judges.

So, it was after these judgements that the collegium system came into picture. Collegium refers to the CJI and four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court. For the elevation of judges of High Courts, a consultation must be made with those judges who hail from that High Court.