Constitutional norm for jurist as SC judge unmet: Justice Bhuyan | India News
NEW DELHI: Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, a Supreme Court judge, Sunday said though Article 124(3) permitted appointment of ‘distinguished jurists’ as judges of the apex court, it was regrettable that this provision had remained one of our Constitution’s unused mandates.“No jurist has been appointed so far to SC though Constitution has completed more than 76 years,” he said, adding that either Centre earlier or the collegium thereafter was not convinced about the depth in Indian academia or had not seriously explored Article 124(3) so far.Addressing the convocation of LLM students at National Law University, Delhi, Justice Bhuyan said, “No legal academic has yet been appointed as a judge of SC, despite there being brilliant minds who could have made a substantial contribution had they become part of the bench.”Addressing the ‘lack of practical experience’ argument against elevation of jurists as judges, he said, “SC is not only the highest adjudicatory body but it is the moral, legal and constitutional conscience-keeper of the nation. It is above technicalities.”
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The objective behind appointing ‘distinguished jurists’ as SC judges is to diversify as they “can be a great value addition to the bench”, he said, adding, “By his or her scholarship, he or she can make a visible contribution to the decision-making process at the top level. Participation of renowned legal academia and scholars would have a defining impact on the judicial functioning of Supreme Court.”He said academics were routinely appointed as judges to constitutional courts in US, UK, Canada and Kenya. In America, they could practise as long as it did not interfere with academic sessions, but this practice was opposed here by rule 49 of Bar Council of India, he said.In US, Felix Frankfurter became the first jurist to be an SC judge, picked by Theodore Roosevelt in 1939. Thereafter, several from legal academia have been appointed as US supreme court judges, many of whom had teaching experience prior to this role.
