RAS question
Which case established the Collegium system for appointment of judges?
Correct answer: (B) Second Judges Case (1993).
The Collegium system for judicial appointments was established by the Second Judges Case, Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association v. Union of India (1993), which gave primacy to the CJI's collectively formed opinion.
Explanation
The Second Judges Case is the case that created the core Collegium rule for judicial appointments. The Supreme Court's later 1998 advisory opinion records that the Second Judges Case examined the primacy of the Chief Justice of India in appointments to the Supreme Court and High Courts, and quotes its holding that the CJI's opinion should carry the greatest weight in a participatory consultative process. The key point is that this primacy was not personal discretion: the CJI's final view had to be a collective judicial opinion formed after consulting senior colleagues. The Third Judges Case then expanded and clarified that collegium process, including the role of the CJI and four senior-most Supreme Court judges for Supreme Court appointments.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) The Fourth Judges Case did not establish the Collegium; it struck down NJAC and restored the already existing Collegium system.
- (C) The Third Judges Case clarified and expanded the Collegium, but the system itself came from the Second Judges Case.
- (D) The First Judges Case took the opposite approach by giving primacy to the executive, so it could not have established judicial primacy through the Collegium.
Concept
This tests the evolution of judicial appointments under the Constitution, especially the shift from executive primacy to judicial primacy. It recurs in RAS because questions on separation of powers, judicial independence and landmark constitutional cases are standard governance themes.