India, May 5 -- The secret swearing-in of Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma at the Allahabad High Court on April 5, by keeping the Allahabad High Court Bar Association and his colleagues in the dark, leads to the inference that the executive and the judiciary have colluded to ensure the image of the latter is not further dented. Consequently, the former Congress law minister, Ashwani Kumar, has sought to replace the opaque collegium system by appointing judges.

Judges are protected under The Judges (Protection) Act, 1985, from being prosecuted or sued in a civil court for their judgments or utterances and behaviour in court, which is as it should be. However, the 46th CJI, Ranjan Gogoi, was accused of sexual harassment by a woman sta...