NEW DELHI: RJD Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Yadav on Wednesday called for the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary through a competitive examination under the All India Judicial Service (AIJS), while participating in the discussion on the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026, in the Rajya Sabha.
Advocating the abolition of the collegium system to pave the way for the AIJS, Yadav emphasised making the existing process of judicial appointments more transparent.
Yadav said, "In this country, even the appointment of a peon involves an examination, yet judges of the higher judiciary are appointed without one. Is this fair?" The RJD MP also stressed the need for greater transparency in judicial appointments.
"The citizens have a right to know the grounds and reasons behind the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary; these grounds and reasons should be clearly made public", he asserted in the Upper House of Parliament. Yadav further pitched for reservation in appointments to the higher judiciary.
"There should be a provision for reservation in the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary. Judges belonging to the SC, ST, and OBC categories— who constitute 85 percent of the country's population,do not even account for one percent of the total number of judges", he pointed out.
He also argued that the collegium system should be scrapped to improve transparency and accountability.
"The Collegium system should be abolished to ensure transparency and greater accountability", he argued.
The RJD MP further said that the reasons behind a judge's recusal from a case should be disclosed publicly.
"The reasons for 'recusal', that is, a judge voluntarily withdrawing from a case, should be made public", he said.