SC dismisses pleas challenging NJAC Bill

The pleas said the NJAC Bill in its present form assailed the independence of the judiciary

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed five petitions challenging the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Bill, by which the collegium system for appointment of judges was proposed to be scrapped and replaced by the NJAC.

The court said it was “premature” to intervene at this juncture but the same issue could be brought before it at the appropriate stage. The judiciary has alleged that the Bill has been passed by the government in haste during the last Parliament session and was not in favour of entirely scrapping the collegium system.   

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi submitted before a bench headed by Anil Dave that the law was still in the legislative process and therefore it cannot be challenged at this stage.  He cited the example of the Telangana Bill, which was challenged at the legislative stage. The court had dismissed the petitions in recent months on the ground that a Bill cannot be challenged before it becomes a law. If the petitions against the NJAC Bill are admitted, even the introduction of Bills in Parliament will be challenged in the court in public interest petitions, Rohatgi said.

Senior counsel F S Nariman, who appeared for the Supreme Court bar, argued that the government could not have brought the Bill without first amending Articles 124 and 217 of the Constitution, dealing with appointment of judges of the Supreme Court and the high courts.

He said the two Houses of Parliament have passed the Bill and President’s assent was only a formality. In the meanwhile, the collegium cannot function and new judges cannot be appointed, he argued.

Counsel contended that the Bill violated the principle of independence of judiciary. It also infringed upon the basic structure of the Constitution, propounded by a 13-judge bench of the Supreme Court in the Kesavananda Bharati case.