Mathews J Nedumpara
22nd June 2026
98205 35428

In a country of 1.5 billion people, my humble self is the only person daring to speak in the public domain on the abolition of the collegium, senior designations, Articles 32 and 226 (synonyms of arbitrariness), restoration of the NJAC, the pristine glory of the civil courts, abolition of the law of contempt of court which belongs to the dark ages, abolition of PILs or hearing PILs as representative proceedings, video recording of court proceedings and preservation of and access to such records by litigants and lawyers, abolition of absolute judicial immunity and, instead, the demand for judicial accountability, judicial law-making through PILs and suo motu PILs behind the back of the people of this country, the basic structure theory — which is contrary to elementary principles of jurisprudence — used as an instrument to rewrite the Constitution, reducing the Parliament to an inferior tribunal, and many other pressing reforms.

2.The reason is not too difficult to fathom.
Nobody in India has ever been appointed as a judge of the High Court and eventually reached the Supreme Court without a godfather. The godfather, in almost all cases, is the father, father-in-law, uncle, senior, or politician, and in rare cases, a big businessman. I know of no exception. I am only too willing to accept exceptions, if any.

3.There are many high-profile lawyers and judges who chant about judicial reforms. The most respected among them is Justice Chelameswar. I too hold him in the highest esteem because he is the sole dissenter in the NJAC case. He is undoubtedly a clean man in every respect. However, I do not think he would ever deny that he owes his success, to a large extent, to N.T. Rama Rao and Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh. The story is that he, along with NTR’s son, used to drive the Chaitanya Ratham of NTR. It may or may not be true. It doesn’t matter. He was the junior advocate for NTR. The fact that he was one of the pallbearers at the funeral of the driver of the Chaitanya Ratham in 2018 shows his humility and character.

4.None of the sitting or retired judges of the Supreme Court or High Courts can criticise the Collegium because they are the beneficiaries of the system. They cannot seek abolition of the senior designation system because they too are its beneficiaries.
Nobody in this country who matters can criticise the Collegium or the designation system because they have benefitted from it. Prashant Bhushan, who has converted PILs into a profitable business, was at the forefront in opposing the NJAC, a legislation that would have replaced the Collegium. Indira Jaising also cannot utter a word because she has never taken a consistent stand. She has only looked for immediate profit.

5.Ninety-nine percent of the bar and the litigant public are against the Collegium and the senior designation system. But their voice is a cry in the wilderness. The mainstream media has been indifferent, if not hostile, to those of us who are protesting against the hijacking of the judiciary by a few dynasties of lawyers and judges.

6.But there is a silver lining. That is social media. The voice of the people is the voice of God. Nobody can ignore it for long.
The Collegium and senior designation systems will all go, as will the contempt of court law and the “face value” jurisprudence under Articles 226 and 32. The nonsense called PILs will become history. The civil courts’ glory as the true constitutional courts will be restored.