New Delhi, Supreme Court judge Ujjal Bhuyan on Sunday batted in favour of appointing ‘distinguished jurists’ as judges of the top court, stating that such an inclusion would diversify the bench with talent and let scholars of repute contribute to the decision-making process.
“A distinguished jurist can be a great value addition to the bench. By his or her scholarship, he or she can make a visible contribution to the decision-making process at the top level,” the judge opined. Justice Bhuyan said it was regrettable that despite Article 124 of the Constitution enabling such an appointment, no person other than high court judges or practising lawyers has reached the Supreme Court in the last 76 years. “No jurist has been appointed so far to the Supreme Court, though the Constitution has completed more than 76 years.
It is regrettable that this provision has remained one of our Constitution’s unused mandates,” Justice Bhuyan said. “No legal academic has yet been appointed as the judge of the Supreme Court despite there being some brilliant minds who could have made a substantial contribution had they become part of the bench,” he added. Justice Bhuyan asserted that the Supreme Court, as the nation’s moral, legal and constitutional conscience keeper, was “above technicalities”, and that academia, the bar and the bench must reflect India’s real diversity.
