The Supreme Court has pronounced the landmark judgement on the appointment of judges. Striking down the NJAC Act, the apex court upheld Collegium system.
Here is your quick guide to the judgement:
What this judgement means?
Judges will select Judges
Government will have no say in their appointments
Judiciary is now free from ‘interference’ of the Executive
What is NJAC?
National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) is a proposed body which is responsible for the appointment and transfer of judges to the higher judiciary in India. The Commission was established by amending the Constitution of India through the ninety-ninth constitution amendment vide the Constitution (Ninety-Ninth Amendment) Act, 2014 passed by the Lok Sabha on 13 August 2014 and by the Rajya Sabha on 14 August 2014.
What is Collegium?
The collegium system of appointment of judges is also referred to as judges-selecting-judges.
The collegium system was created by two judgements of the Supreme Court in 1990s in which a body of senior apex court judges headed by the Chief Justice of India selected persons and recommended their names for appointment as judges.
What does the 1030 page document say?
· Arguments to improve collegium to be heard later
· NJAC violative of the basic structure of constitution
· Constitutional provisions should not be construed in a manner that would tend to undermine the concept of “independence of the judiciary”
· “Independence of the judiciary” could be maintained, only if appointments of Judges to the higher judiciary, were made by according primacy to the opinion of the Chief Justice, based on the decision of a collegium of Judges.
Also read: NJAC ‘unconstitutional’ rules Supreme Court