Some judges are lazy, some are inefficient; collegium usually does not take action: Justice Jasti Chelameswar

Former Supreme Court judge Justice Jasti Chelameswar on Tuesday said that the Collegium, which appoints and transfers judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court, functions in a very opaque manner and often takes no action when allegations against judges come to fore..He said that many judges are lazy and do not write judgments on time while many others are plain inefficient. "Some allegations may come before collegium but nothing is done usually. If allegations are serious maybe action should be taken. The general solution is to just transfer judges...Some judges are just lazy and take years and years to write judgments. some judges are inefficient," he said.Justice Chelameswar was delivering the inaugural address at the National seminar on the topic of "Is Collegium Alien To The Constitution", organised by the Bharatheeya Abhibhashaka Parishad Kerala at the Kerala High Court. .He said that he could be subject to criticism and online trolling for speaking about this subject after his retirement. "Now if I say anything I will get trolled tomorrow saying 'why is he saying all this after he retired'; but that is my fate. But recently Supreme Court remanded two judgements from a High Court because it could not understand what its judgements said," the retired judge said.He, however, underlined that an independent judiciary is essential for survival of any democracy."Just imagine what would happen otherwise. Imagine what a policeman can do. Not that they are bad but they have power and they could become a law unto themselves," he stated..He was also not welcoming of a recent statement by Law Minister Kiren Rijiju "Our current law minister made a statement based on 42nd amendment. And I must say that this kind of machoism is bad for everyone. No one is focusing on the common man and how to improve the systems that affect them. Take wise decisions in the interest of your own children and progeny," he underlined.Read more about what Justice Chelameswar said on Collegium here..[Read live coverage of event below]