NJAC verdict: govt surprised, mixed reax from legal fraternity

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court verdict quashing the new law on appointment of judges today was today dubbed by a "surprised" government as a "setback to parliamentary sovereignty" while it drew mixed responses from the legal fraternity and political parties.

Reflecting Government's disagreement with the verdict that brings back the collegium system after the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act was struck down as unconstitutional, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi called it "flawed".

Expressing surprise over the order striking down the law to appoint judges to the higher judiciary, government also questioned the transparency of the previous collegium system.

Congress reacted cautiously to the verdict, saying that the collegium system which will now be restored is "shrouded in secrecy".

Its chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala, however, used the verdict to target the Narendra Modi government saying the judgment implicitly reflected "lack of confidence" in the government which has "eroded" institutional autonomy and constitutional safeguards over last 17 months.

Welcoming the verdict, former Chief Justice of India Justice Altamas Kabir and ex-Supreme Court Judge Justice A K Ganguly expressed pride in the Indian judicial system saying the decision restored independence of judiciary, a view not shared by former Delhi High Court judge Justice R S Sodhi, who said the verdict shows lack of trust on Parliament's maturity.

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who had piloted the NJAC bill in Parliament as the law minister, said the order had raised questions over the sovereignty of Parliament, which had unanimously passed the legislation that also received ratification from 20 state assemblies.

"While holding very dearly the principle of independence of judiciary, I regret to say that parliamentary sovereignty has received a setback today... Questions have been raised on parliamentary sovereignty," he told a press conference here, adding that the government will decide its future course of action after reading the 1,030-page judgement and consultations.

Prasad also wondered whether "judges appointing judges is the only way of judicial independence", as decided by the SupremeCourt today.

Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said the will of the people can be represented through the Parliament, through the legislature only and it cannot be brought to the notice of the whole world by some other means. "We are surprised by the verdict...", he told reporters in Bangalore.

"According to me the verdict is flawed. The verdict has ignored the unanimous view of Parliament and the will of more than half the state legislatures," Rohatgi said.