India, Oct. 25 -- Former Supreme Court judge Sanjay Kishan Kaul has criticised former Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud's approach to judicial appointments, alleging that he was "too deferential to the government". In his forthcoming memoir 'Without Fear or Favour', Justice Kaul, while recounting a collegium meeting to fill six Supreme Court vacancies, says five names had been agreed upon in advance when Justice Chandrachud proposed a sixth candidate and considered checking the government's view.

"The Chief Justice drew me aside into a separate room and wondered aloud whether he should telephone out to check the government's view," Kaul wrote in his book. "There is a difference between consultation and what I came to regard as pre-a...