The Caravan July 2019

After the Emergency, marked by rampant executive interference in the composition of the courts, the judiciary claimed for itself more and more of the power to select its own. With the collegium system, created in 1993, it achieved unmatched primacy in the process of judicial appointments. But after decades of judges choosing and promoting judges, the judiciary has come full circle, to again face dire questions over its independence. If the judiciary is not yet past the point of no return, its journey back from the brink will have to take manifold paths. What those paths are and where they will lead, there is yet no telling. But the journey will have to begin with scrutiny of the collegium.