Recently, the Supreme Court collegium recommended multiple elevations to the Court, taking it closer to its now sanctioned strength of 38. At the same time, the Court also stated in different contexts that no one has a legal right to be appointed as judge to a constitutional court and that the process of judicial selection is not subject to judicial review.

This position exposes a paradox. The Supreme Court fiercely guards judicial review as a check on executive excess. Yet, when it comes to appointing its own judges, it has insulated itself from the same scrutiny. The reasoning is that suitability cannot be reviewed; it is a collective assessment of merit and integrity that is a matter for the collegium alone.

Historically, the collegium system itself is a judicial creation rather than a constitutional mandate. It emerged out of institutional anxiety over executive interference in judicial appointments in the years after the Emergency.

Also Read | Delhi HC collegium removes judge pick after proposal sent to Supreme Court

In Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association v. Union of India (1993) or the Second Judges Case, a nine-judge bench forever transformed the appointments process by creating the collegium........

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