Parliament erred while passing judicial commission bills, PIL in Madras HC says

CHENNAI: A public interest litigation ( PIL) filed in the Madras high court has said both Houses of the Parliament committed a faux pas while adopting two constitutional amendment bills to usher in the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC).

The Parliament passed the two bills earlier this month -- Bill 97 of 2014 intended to amend Article 124 of the Constitution thereby bringing in the NJAC along with a six-member set up to appoint/transfer judges of high courts and the Supreme Court, and Bill 96 of 2014 sought to lay down procedural nitty-gritty to regulate such appointments.

K M Vijayan, senior counsel for PIL-petitioner E Vijay Anand, told the Madras high court on Friday that the Parliament had committed a grave constitutional error by adopting both the bills simultaneously. It ought to have passed Bill 97 first and then got it ratified by at least half the number of assemblies in the country, before tabling Bill 96, he said.

"Legislators totally lost their sight in passing two bills simultaneously without even understanding the basic principles of law that Bill 97 is the only enabling law for passing Bill 96. What made the legislators do such a blunder, that too, while passing a Bill of national importance," Vijayan said.

Without being armed with a duly passed and ratified Bill 97, the Parliament simply did not have powers to pass Bill 96 which talks about regulating the NJAC procedure, he said.

The Parliament did not have a source to pass Bill 96, he said, adding, "Procedurally, Bill 96 can be passed only after the commencement of Bill 97. It is premature to pass Bill 96 before Bill 97 comes into force."

The Parliament's power to amend the Constitution was a complete code and the procedure contemplated there was not an empty formality, Vijayan said.

The first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M Sathyanarayanan, finding the PIL maintainable, directed the court registry to number the PIL and post it to August 26 for admission.