1Assistant Professor, Amity Law School Centre II, Amity University, Noida
2Law Student Semester 7, Amity Law School Centre II, Amity University, Noida
Online published on 10 March, 2016.
The appointment at higher judiciary was prerogative of Judges Collegium system till now in India. But Parliament thought of making the appointment system more transparent but that system has to be independent and compliant with the basic structure of the Constitution. The change in appointment scenarios with regard to higher judiciary is need of the hour. The Commission is established by amending the Constitution of India through the ninety-ninth constitution amendment vide the Constitution (Ninety-Ninth Amendment) Act, 2014. The NJAC replaces the collegium system for the appointment of judges, the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014, was also passed by the Parliament of India to regulate the functions of the National Judicial Appointments Commission. The NJAC Act and the Constitutional Amendment Act came into force from 13 April 2015. The central issue is over the supremacy of Judiciary or Executive in appointment of Judges in the Higher Judiciary. This paper discusses the relevance and righteousness of NJAC in the light of issues related to converting judicial power to executive power by upsetting the separation of powers that flows from the Constitution. By doing this, Parliament grants to itself the power to change through ordinary law-making what earlier could be changed only through constituent lawmaking. Hence this Act is challenged before the Apex Court. The debate revolves around the issue of supremacy of Judiciary or Executive in appointment of Judges in the Higher Judiciary. This paper also throws light on appointment of judges scenarios across the Globe. In the United States, the President has the say in appointment, in United Kingdom, the system by far is very merit oriented because in order to become the judge there is an open competition that avoids kith and kin syndrome which is largely prevalent in India The article inter alia throws light on the constitutional provision with respect to appointment of judges, the global perspective of appointment of judges, evolution of collegiums system and its notable flaws, evolution of NJAC, the Act, salient feature in the Act WORDS: Constitution, Appointment, Amendment, Transparency, Judiciary, Collegium, Articles 124A AND Article 124C.
