New Delhi

Amid the ongoing friction between the Centre and the judiciary on the issue of appointment of judges, the Supreme Court on Thursday told the Centre that collegium system is the "law of the land", which should be followed.

Referring to government functionaries' remarks against the collegium, the top court said, "Making comments on the Supreme Court collegium is not very well taken" and told the Attorney General R Venkataramani, representing the Centre, "you tell them to control..."

A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Vikram Nath told the AG that just because there are some sections of society who express a view against the collegium system, it will not cease to be the law of the land.

The bench added that the apex court judgment, which formulated the collegium system for judges' appointment must be adhered to.

Justice Kaul told the AG, "There are sections in society who do not agree with the laws made by the Parliament...should the court stop enforcing such laws on that ground?...".

The bench further added that if everyone in society decides which law to follow and which law not to follow, then there would be a breakdown.

The top court urged the AG to play a constructive role in engaging with the government on the issue of delay of appointment of judges.

The bench said the scheme of our Constitution requires our court to be the final arbiter of law and Parliament has the right to enact a law but the power to scrutinize it lies with the court.

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The top court was hearing a contempt petition filed by Advocates Association of Bangalore against Centre breaching the timeline for judicial appointments.