New Delhi, Aug. 2 -- Supreme Court justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Saturday observed that collegium resolutions are not being forwarded with reasons and questioned whether this was a "step back" from the judiciary's commitment to transparency. Releasing a report on the Judicial Transparency Index at an event in New Delhi, he said that not attaching reasons was a disservice to many outstanding judges, and conversely, "we also create space for individuals to enter the judiciary who may later describe groups of people as 'ants' and make other remarks that are wholly unconstitutional and contrary to the values of the Constitution." He was apparently referring to a a former Allahabad high court judge's controversial speech at a VHP event in 2024. "A judiciary that has embraced publicity in its adjudicative function has been markedly more cautious about extending the same principle to its own constitutive processes," he said and cited three recent Supreme Court collegium statements without reasons for recommending elevations attached. He noted that deliberations in the collegium remain confidential and reasons for rejecting or deferring a recommendation are rarely disclosed and criteria applied are not publicly accessible. "There is no doubt that open courts make it possible for the public to develop reasonable perceptions about the judiciary, by enabling them to directly observe judicial behaviour, the processes and outcome of cases," he said. However, he also supported the top court's move to regulate the use of court proceedings on social media in a recent hearing. "The Court's concern is precisely that decontextualised fragments of oral exchanges, observations made by judges in the course of argument, not findings, are being circulated with sensational captions, causing reputational harm to judges, advocates, and litigants alike," he said....