NEW DELHI, Jan. 23 -- The recent weeks witnessed an avalanche of attacks against the apex court. Significantly, it came not only from the government but from a couple of constitutional bodies too. The appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and the High Courts has always been a matter of tussle between the Central government and the Collegium of the Supreme Court.

There were occasions when the government sent back to the Collegium the names suggested by it for reconsideration. But it usually got solved with the Collegium sending the file again to the government recommending the same names; and the government, without creating a fuss, used to clear it.

It is not so in the Narendra Modi regime. It has become a rule, unlike an exceptio...