Which one of the following judgements is associated with the primacy of the Chief Justice of India and the collegium of Judges in the appointment and transfer of the higher judiciary?
The collegium system has its genesis in a series of judgments called Judges Cases. In the First Judges Case (S.P. Gupta Vs Union of India, 1981), the Supreme Court by a majority judgment held that the concept of primacy of the Chief Justice of India was not really to be found in the Constitution. The judgment tilted the balance of power in appointments of judges of High Courts in favour of the executive. This situation prevailed for the next 12 years. In Second Judges Case (The Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association Vs Union of India, 1993), a 9-judge Constitution Bench overruled the decision in S.P. Gupta and devised a specific procedure called Collegium System for the appointment and transfer of judges in the higher judiciary.