'Why SC judges not giving details of...': CJI's take on collegium goes viral amid 'full disclosure' order on electoral bonds

Amid the Supreme Court's repeated directions to SBI to disclose all details about electoral bonds, former Infosys Chief Financial Officer Mohandas Pai on Monday questioned the "lack of transparency in  appointment of judges". He also asked why judges do not give details of their wealth as the Members of Parliament (MPs) do.     

"Why do we have lack of transparency in appointment of judges through the collegium system? Why are SC judges not giving details of their personal wealth like our MPs? Why is there selectivity in justice as done for Teesta Setalvad? Are the rest of us children of a lesser God?" he asked in a tweet. 

Pai's tweet came in response to an old interview of CJI DY Chandrachud, who defended the collegium system, under which the top court judges appoint judges for the Supreme Court and High Courts.

The interview was shared by one Alok Bhatt, who said the argument the CJI cited in favour of the collegium system can also be applied to companies who donated via electoral bonds - "the secrecy clause was meant to avoid victimisation of donors by govt of the rival parties only - NO?"

In an interview to India Today's Rahul Kanwal at the India Today Conclave 2023, CJI Chandrachud had defended the Collegium system and said: "When we consider names for the appointment as judges of the High Courts or Supreme Court, we are also dealing with people's lives, particularly in High Courts."

"Very often whose names are under consideration, we look at diverse sets of aspects pertaining to their personal life and professional life. Their personal life in so far as they are relevant to the discharge of judicial duties. But when we deal with people's intimate and private aspects of lives, we have to be conscious of the fact that you can't in the process of selection open up every aspect of their lives to society at large."

The CJI said that the consequence will be that good people will say - "sorry, I am not going to put my personal life on trial in this way." "So if you have to have good people, you must also trust your decision makers to make those choices."

Earlier today, the CJI asked the State Bank of India (SBI) to share all the details of electoral bonds including the alphanumeric number. He also asked the SBI Chairman to file an affidavit by 5 pm on March 21, stating the bank has disclosed all the details regarding the electoral bonds.