New Delhi: The Govt. is in a fix after the Supreme Court ruled in its own favour on Oct 16, on the NJAC Act. The Supreme Court admitted flaws in the collegium system and is seeking suggestions for improvement from various stakeholders. The government is likely to ask the apex court to define the judges’ selection criteria and record reasons for selection or rejection of a candidate and put them on websites so it is available in the public domain. They may also suggest application of the RTI to the Collegium proceedings.

On Monday, top officials of the law ministry consulted the attorney general to finalize the government’s response to the apex court. The law minister also held a meeting with senior officials and his law officers on the issue.

Soon after the SC verdict, which upheld the collegium system of appointing judges to the higher judiciary, the law ministry held a high-level deliberation where it was decided not to go in for a review of the judgment. The government then also decided to file a response to the SC’s poser on improving the collegium system.

A source said the government would rather wait for the parliamentary standing committee and the select a committee to take a view on the SC’s order on NJAC than take any proactive stand on the issue. “The Constitution 99th amendment on NJAC was unanimously passed by Parliament and later ratified by more than half the states, it is for all the political parties to decide whether the government should reiterate the amendment,” the source said.

After the striking down of the NJAC, the government has already accepted two sets of recommendations of the SC collegium where it had approved appointment of 22 additional judges of various high courts.