National Judicial Appointment Commission - Pros and Cons

TRENDING
1DWLRQDO-XGLFLDO$SSRLQWPHQW&RPPLVVLRQ3URVDQG&RQV
# Alliance University # Top Searches # IBPS
SEARCH
Search jagranjosh...
ASK OR ANSWER
SHOP
App
QUIZ & TEST
Newsletter
RESULTS
News
6KRS5HVXOWV
EXAM PREP CENTRE
0%$ -(( &%6( %DQNLQJ ,$63&6 66& 2WKHUV
STUDY
&XUUHQW$IIDLUV *.
CAREER
,QVWLWXWHV 6DUNDUL1DXNUL 2WKHU&DUHHUV
GROUPS
4Q$ 0\-RVK6LJQXS 6LJQLQ
National Judicial Appointment Commission: Pros and Cons

08-SEP-2014
Top Picks : 2014 Current Affairs, September 2014 Current Affairs, Article on Current Issues
The National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014 and the 121st Constitutional Amendment Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 13
March 2014. Earlier on 12 March 2014 the two bills were passed by the Lok Sabha by voice vote.
As soon as it gets the consent of different States (by virtue of being a Constitutional Bill) and the Presidents assent the National Judicial
Appointments Commission (NJAC) with Constitutional status will become a reality. With the NJAC becoming a reality the collegiums system devised
by Supreme Court in 1993 will become a thing of past.
The Constitutional Amendment Bill seeks to amend Article 124 (2) of the Constitution that provides for the appointment of the judges of higher
judiciary and inserts Article 124A, Article 124B and Article 124C providing for composition and function of the National Judicial Appointments
Commission.
On the other hand, National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014 lays down the procedure to be followed by the proposed six-member
body for appointment and transfer of judges of higher judiciary. It empowers Parliament to enact a law regarding composition, function and
procedure of the NJAC.
Composition and Function of NJAC
The NJAC comprises of six-members which include Chief Justice of India as Chairman, Union Law Minister, two senior-most Supreme Court
judges and two eminent persons.
The two eminent persons will be selected by a collegiums comprising of Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India and leader of the opposition or the
leader of the single largest party in the Lok Sabha.
Besides, one eminent person should belong to the SC, ST, women or minority community, preferably by rotation and will have tenure of three
years.
The NJAC will recommend to the President for the appointment and transfer of judges of higher judiciary, viz., Supreme Court and High Courts.
It will also make recommendations for the appointment of Chief Justice of India and Chief Justices of High Courts.
Before going into the arguments in favour and against the NJAC, it would be pertinent to understand about collegiums system
Collegium System.
The Collegium system was in consonance with the trend of judicial activism undertaken by the Supreme Court in the late 1980s. The system got
KWWSZZZMDJUDQMRVKFRPFXUUHQWDIIDLUVQDWLRQDOMXGLFLDODSSRLQWPHQWFRPPLVVLRQSURVDQGFRQV

concrete shape in 1998 in Third Judge case wherein SC laid down elaborate selection process of judges of higher judiciary. Under the Collegium
system, the Chief Justice of India would consult the four senior most judges of the Supreme Court for Supreme Court appointments and two
senior-most judges for high court appointments.
The judiciary, in fact, rewrote the constitutional arrangement enumerated in Article 124 and Article 217 of the Indian Constitution which provided
for a plurality of functionaries (executive and judiciary) by ensuring plurality of functionaries only within the judicial system.
Arguments in Favour
It is a fact that collegiums system over the years has come under severe criticism on account of opaqueness in appointment and transfer of judges
of higher judiciary. Besides, the growing corruption and nepotism within the judiciary calls for transparency. The recent revelation by Jusitce (retd)
Markandey Katju and Justice Dinakaran case is a pointer towards reforming the judiciary.
Besides, it is criticised that collegiums system does not provide an adequate tenure for the chief justices of the High Courts, the consultation
process is secretive and unknown to the judiciary and the public, and meritorious candidates from the bar and high courts are denied an
opportunity to serve on the bench for undisclosed reasons.
Arguments against the NJAC

The legal fraternity argues that NJAC is a ploy to bring the judiciary within the ambit of executive in the garb of reforming collegiums system. Thus
NJAC will limit the judiciary in scrutinising the executives malafide actions and its overreach.
It will compromise the independence of judiciary which has been cornerstone in ensuring the peoples faith in democracy. The recent role of
judiciary in 2G and Coalgate scam is a point in this direction.
Besides, it is argued that the NJAC has not laid down an objective procedure for appointments. These include norms to ensure transparency in
nominations, criterion for assessing the suitability of the candidates and objective guidelines for determining meritorious candidates. Judges must
also be ensured security of tenure as well as an adequate tenure period through the new mechanism.
Conclusion
The independent and transparent judiciary is the sine qua non of a healthy democracy. In order to ensure independence of judiciary it is pertinent
that the enacting of law relating to composition, function and procedure relating to NJAC should not be left to the Parliament which it can do it by
simple majority. On the other hand, the wider representation in the selection process will ensure that there is transparency and accountability in
appointments and transfer of judges of higher judiciary.
If you have any Question/Point on the above information, please ask/discuss it in the Current Affairs Group.
,VWKLVDUWLFOHLPSRUWDQWIRUH[DPV"
3HRSOH$JUHHG
3UHYLRXV6WRU\
:KLWKHU)',LQ0XOWLEUDQG5HWDLO"
1H[W6WRU\
:7,DQG7&/VLJQHG0R8WRVHWXS,QGLDVILUVW&RUDO*DUGHQLQ*XMDUDW
Read more Current Affairs on:National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2014, Constitutional Amendment Bill, Rajya Sabha
)URP7KH:HE
)URP-DJUDQ-RVK
7KHVH%DODQFH7UDQVIHU&UHGLW&DUGV&RXOG+HOS<R/HQGLQJ7UHH
*HW$FWLYHLQ0LDPL$)$5
%UDQG3RVW,GHQWLI\LQJYXOQHUDEOHHQWU\SRLQWV&,2DQG7HQDEOH
(PRWLRQDOPHHWLQJEHWZHHQ,QGUDQLDQGGDXJKWHU9LGKLH061
)DFWRUVWR&RQVLGHUIRU,QVWDOOLQJ&LW\ZLGH:L)L&DPELXP1HWZRUNV
723&855(17$))$,562)

033ROLFH5HFUXLWPHQW$SSO\IRU9DULRXV3RVWV
2LODQG1DWXUDO*DV&RUSRUDWLRQ/WG5HFUXLWPHQWIRU7HFK 1RQ
+RZWRSUHSDUHIRU*.LQPRQWKVIRU66&([DPV"
(QJOLVKIRU%DQN([DP&RPSUHKHQVLRQ3DVVDJH
3URPRWHG/LQNV E\7DERROD
6SRQVRUHG/LQNV E\7DERROD
Post Comment
You May Like

Ashiana Living: A Place Where Senoirs Can Enjoy Living
Ashiana Housing
Our Favorite Cultural Festivals in Miami

AFAR
15 Funny Excuses Children Give To Avoid Eating

Flintobox
BrandPost: Cloud vs. On-Premises Security Solutions

CIO and Tenable
Newsletter Signup
For Mobile Experience
Enter your email id
Category
SUBSCRIBE
Quick Links
Exam Prep
Career & Institute
Study & Resources
About us
MBA Exam
Admission Alerts
Current Affairs
Register
IAS | PCS Exam
Engineering Colleges
General Knowledge
Contact Us
Banking Exam
MBA Colleges
Quiz & Test
We are hiring
SSC Exam
Medical Colleges
Buy Online
CBSE Board
Other Colleges
Ask or Answer
JEE Exam
Disclaimer
Privacy Policy
Follow us on
Videos
RSS
To Know More
About Jagranjosh
sms Josh to 57272
ADVERTISE
W I T H
U S
Copyright 2015 Jagran Prakashan Limited.

National Judicial Appointment Commission - Pros and Cons

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

National Judicial Appointment Commission - Pros and Cons

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

QUIZ & TEST

EXAM PREP CENTRE

0%$ -(( &%6( %DQNLQJ ,$63&6 66& 2WKHUV

,QVWLWXWHV 6DUNDUL1DXNUL 2WKHU&DUHHUV

4Q$ 0\-RVK6LJQXS 6LJQLQ