National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, 2014

The Supreme Court of India (SCI) in October 2015 struck down both 99th constitutional amendment act and National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, 2014. The reason stated by SCI was that it undermines the independence of Judiciary and involvement of executive would compromise the integrity of SCI.

  • NJAC Act, 2014 proposed to change the appointments of judges from collegium led to commission led. The commission thus setup consisted of 6 members – Chief Justice of India as Chairperson, two other senior-most judges of SCI, the Law Minister and two eminent members nominated by the Prime Minister, the CJI and the Leader of Opposition of the Lok Sabha.
  • This commission would then recommend the names for presidential assent, who on assent would be appointed as a judge of Supreme Court or High Court.
  • There was a review petition of 2015 judgment which the SC dismissed in 2018.
  • A supervisory or an organization ensuring proper checks is must. If not NJAC, any other body with inclusion of executive must be created to ensure proper checks.

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