Replying to a question on the ongoing controversy over the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court, Gupta said that many undeserving judges availed of positions bypassing senior judges in the present system.

Specifically, he pointed out that some of the High Court judges whose names had been recommended by the Supreme Court Chief Justice M M Puncchi were either junior to many in the panel or not competent. The Union Law Ministry was not happy with the recommendations, he maintained.

The present system, Gupta explained, by which the Executive had to approve without any objections the appointments list sent by the Chief Justice of India had a harmful effects on the judiciary. Gupta maintained that the Chief Justice of the apex court should not be solely authorised to appoint judges. He, however, clarifiedthat he was not for giving total power to the Executive. A just mechanism has to be worked out for the appointment of judges, he suggested.

Asked to comment on the election of former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Justice Ranganath Mishra to Rajya Sabha, the CPI leader said it would be preferable if judges are not made eligible to contest election. If there will be no restriction, service judges are likely to be influenced in their conduct.

Replying to a question on the election of retired judges to the Parliament, Gupta said it would be preferable if they were made ineligible to contest election to Rajya Sabha. If there was no restriction service judges would be prone to bias in dispensing justice, he observed.