The Supreme Court said on Thursday that there is no bar on the collegium to appoint judges for the higher judiciary, which has large-scale vacancies. The collegium system allows only judges to make appointments to the higher judiciary. The apex court also decided to give nine more days to draw suggestions to improve the two-decade-old controversial collegium system to bring greater transparency to it, reported the Press Trust of India.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by justice JS Khehar said, "We want to indicate that we don’t want to delay. We have not said anything to the collegium and we will not be saying anything. Whatever they want, they can do. If they do not want to proceed, let them not. It is their business."

On October 16, the Supreme Court had declared the National Judicial Appointment Commission Act unconstitutional. The act envisioned a team that included the law minister and members of the public, in addition to judges, to make judicial appointments.