MANY HAVE WRITTEN SO FAR on the collegium system of appointment of judges, a system evolved through a judicial coup. None, however, have written their own account of the appointment.
In evangelical meetings, at times, certain persons come up to speak about the miracles that occurred to them. They are known as ‘blood witnesses’. This, too, is the statement of a blood witness.
After I got my law degree, I enrolled myself as an Advocate before the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu during July 1976. After twenty years of practice in the High Court and subordinate courts, in 1997, I was designated as a Senior Advocate by the full court of the Madras High Court. Thus, I had 30 years of practice in all. I was an elected member of the Bar Council for a term of Five years. I was also an office bearer of the Madras High Court Advocates Association. During my tenure, I had actively participated in human rights movements and had also appeared in a number of human rights violation cases.
How did I, an advocate, become a judge? This recollection will try to answer that. One may reasonably ask how I came to know about my appointment when the files relating to Collegium recommendations are kept confidential. I wish to write what I know about the truth relating to my appointment. Only then will the true nature of the collegium system be known.
