People unhappy with collegium system; govt's job to appoint judges: Rijiju

Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju said the people of the country are not happy with the collegium system and according to the spirit of the Constitution, it is the government's job to appoint judges.

Speaking at 'Sabarmati Samvad' organised here on Monday by 'Panchjanya', a weekly magazine published by the RSS, he said he has observed that half of the time judges are "preoccupied" with deciding the appointments, due to which their primary job of delivering justice "suffers".

The minister's remarks came after he had said at a conference in Jaipur last month that there is a need to rethink the collegium system of appointments to the higher judiciary.

"Till 1993, every judge in India was appointed by the law ministry in consultation with the Chief Justice of India. We had very eminent judges at that time," Rijiju said in response to a question on the process of appointment of judges.

"The Constitution is clear about it. It says that the President of India will appoint judges