Manish Tewari gives adjournment notice in LS on face-off with judiciary

New Delhi, Dec 9

Congress MP Manish Tewari has gievn adjournment notice in the Lok Sabha on judiciary-Collegium issue, which is at the centre of row following statements from various quarters.

In his notice, Tewari said, "Discussion on confrontation with the judiciary after statement by various government functionaries, including honourable law minister."

He further said that such statements undermine the faith in the judiciary. He also mentioned that there were various vacancies in the high court and Supreme Court (SC). The Apex Court has seven and the high court has 380 vacancies.

Amid the ongoing friction between the Centre and the judiciary on the issue of appointment of judges, the Supreme Court on Thursday told the Centre that Collegium system was the "law of the land", which should be followed. And, referring to government functionaries' remarks against the Collegium, the top court said, "making comments on the Supreme Court Collegium is not very well taken" and told the Attorney General (AG) R. Venkataramani, representing the Centre, "you tell them to control..."

A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Vikram Nath told the AG that just because there were some sections of the society who express a view against the Collegium system, it will not cease to be the law of the land. The bench added that the apex court judgment, which formulated the Collegium system for judges' appointment must be adhered to.

Justice Kaul told the AG, "There are sections in society who do not agree with the laws made by the Parliament...should the court stop enforcing such laws on that ground?..." The bench further added that if everyone in the society decides which law to follow and which law not to follow, then there would be a breakdown.