CJI Ramana Clarifies Myth of Judges Appointing Judges

The notion that judges are appointing judges is a myth as the judiciary is merely one of the many players involved in the process, said Chief Justice of India NV Ramana. Addressing the Lavu Venkateswarlu 5th Endowment Lecture on ‘Indian Judiciary: Challenges of future’ at the Siddhartha Law College in Vijayawada on December 26 said, “High Courts must also accelerate the process of making recommendations to fill vacancies. I am constantly persuading the Chief Justices of various High Courts to take up this issue. My desire is to witness a near-zero vacancy. Another issue is the alarming number of vacancies in various Tribunals. It is nowadays fashionable to reiterate phrases such as ‘judges are themselves appointing judges’. I consider this to be one of the widely propagated myths. The fact is that the judiciary is merely one of the many players involved in the process.”