Constitution of India: Art. 217 – Collegium recommendation – Scope and ambit of judicial review in the matter of appointment of judges – Held: The Collegium of the Supreme Court takes the final call after considering recommendation of High Court, inputs of intelligence agencies, comments from the government, opinion and comments of the judges of this Court and a number of letters and communications from all quarters – Supreme Court while exercising power of judicial review cannot issue a writ of certiorari quashing the recommendation, or mandamus calling upon the Collegium of the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision, as this would be contrary to the ratio and dictum of the earlier binding decisions of this Court – To do so would violate the law as declared, as it would amount to evaluating and substituting the decision of the Collegium, with individual or personal opinion on the suitability and merits of the person.

Constitution of India: Art. 217 – While Art. 217(2) prescribes the threshold limit or the entry point for a person to be qualified to be a judge of a High Court, Art. 217(1) prescribes the procedure to be followed, which procedure is designed to test the fitness of a person so to be appointed; her character, her integrity, her competence, her knowledge and the like – When eligibility is put in question, the question would fall within the scope of judicial review – However, the question whether a person is fit to be appointed as a judge essentially involves the aspect of suitability and stands excluded from the purview of judicial review.