Making RAW's Report Public A Matter Of Grave Concern, It Will Impact Undercover Operatives- Kiren Rijiju

The Union Law & Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju has reacted to the statements published by the Supreme Court Collegium making public the objections raised by the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) against the recommendation to appoint some candidates as High Court judges.

The Law Minister said, "As far making serious inputs of the RAW and the IB public is concerned, it is a serious issue. I will comment on it at the appropriate time".

Speaking at a press conference, the Minister also said that the disclosure will have implications for the secretive operatives of the two agencies.

"The concerned officer who is working for the nation in disguise or in a secret mode, and secretive location will think twice if tomorrow his or her report is going to be in the public domain. It will have an implication", the Law Minister said.

The Minister did not comment further stating that the press conference was held in the context of discussing the achievements of the E-Committee and that he did not want to comment on contentious issues.

The Supreme Court collegium had published four statements reiterating recommendations for appointment of five judges to four High Courts, at least two of which disclosed the objections cited by the RAW or the IB.

With respect to the recommendation to appoint Senior Advocate Saurabh Kirpal as a Judge of the Delhi High Court, the Collegium mentioned the objections of the RAW, only to dismiss them. (read report)

With respect to the recommendation to appoint Advocate R. John Sathyan as a Judge of the Madras High Court, the statement quoted from the IB's report against the candidate. (read report)

With respect to the recommendation to appoint Advocate Somasekhar Sundaresan as a Judge of the Bombay High Court, though the Collegium mentioned the objection raised against him, it did not expressly mention that the same was from the IB.

With respect to the recommendation to appoint Advocates Amitesh Banerjee and Sakya Sen as judges of the Calcutta High Court, though the statement rejects the objections of the IB, it does not reveal what the objections were.