Collegium rejig | It's precise follow-up action on Supreme Court direction in NJAC ruling, says Law Minister Kiren Rijiju

Kiren Rijiju made the remarks while responding to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who dubbed as "extremely dangerous" the government's move to ask the Supreme Court to include its nominees in collegium.

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on January 16 said the government's demand for inclusion of its representatives and that of States in collegiums of the Supreme Court and High Courts was the "precise follow-up action" suggested by the apex court while striking down the National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC) Act.

Mr. Rijiju made the remarks while responding to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who dubbed as "extremely dangerous" the government's move to ask the Supreme Court to include its nominees in collegium.

Explained | The workings of the Supreme Court collegium

"I hope you honour Court's direction! This is precise follow-up action of the direction of the Supreme Court Constitution Bench while striking down the National Judicial Appointment Commission Act. The SC Constitution Bench had directed to restructure the MoP (Memorandum of Procedure) of the collegium system," the Minister said on Twitter.

The Union Law Minister had written to Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud suggesting the inclusion of representatives of the Union and State governments in the Supreme Court and High Court collegiums respectively to infuse transparency and public accountability in the selection of judges.

"This is extremely dangerous. There should be absolutely no government interference in judicial appointments," Mr. Kejriwal said on Twitter.

In November, Mr. Rijiju had said that the collegium system of making judicial appointments was "alien" to the Constitution. Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla have also claimed that the judiciary was encroaching on the powers of the legislature.