President Pranab Mukherjee gives nod to National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill

NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday formally assented to the National Judicial Appointments Commission, setting the stage for the scrapping of the decades-old collegium system of judges appointing judges. Under the new system, the government will have some say in such appointments. The Act will most probably face a legal challenge, which could pit the government against the top judiciary, experts said.

A six-member panel led by the chief justice of India will decide all appointments of judges to the Supreme Court and the 24 high courts. This panel will also include the law minister, two eminent personalities and two senior-most judges of the court. The eminent persons will be named by a panel, comprising the Prime Minister, the chief justice of India and the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha.

One of the members will be a woman or belong to the scheduled caste, scheduled tribe, other backward class or minority communities.

Under the collegium system, the government has no say in appointments. It could send back selections but had to clear them if the collegium insisted. Under the new system, the government can veto any appointment as it will have three nominees on the panel. Any two dissenting notes can veto a candidate. Normally, the senior-most judge would be recommended as chief justice but other criteria such as merit will also be taken into account.

The president formally assented to the bill after 16 of the 29 state assemblies ratified it. The NJAC will now be a constitutional body like the Election Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General etc. The collegium system began in 1993.