NJAC Full form

What is the full form of NJAC ?

NJAC stands for the National Judicial Appointment Commission. The National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) was the proposed body that would be responsible for the recruitment, appointment, and transfer of judicial officers, law officers, and legal staff under the Government of India and in all Indian governments. The Commission was established by an amendment to the Constitution of India through the Ninety-Ninth Amendment to the Constitution with the Constitution (Ninety-Ninth Amendment) Act, 2014, or the 99th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2014, passed by the Lok Sabha on August 13, 2014, and the Rajya Sabha on August 14, 2014. The NJAC would replace the collegium system for appointing judges, invoked by the Supreme Court through judicial fiat, with a new system. Along with the Constitution Amendment Act, the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014, was also passed by the Parliament of India to regulate the functions of the National Judicial Appointments Commission.

This Story also Contains

1. What is the full form of NJAC ?
2. What is the collegium system?
3. The national judicial appointments commission act, 2014
4. How do NJAC proponents defend it?
5. Conclusion

What is the collegium system?

• In this judicial appointment system, the collegium recommends the names of candidates to the central government.
• The central government will also send the names of the proposed candidates for consultation.
• The appointment process takes a long time, as there is no fixed time limit for it. If the Collegium sends the same name again, then the government has to give approval to the names.

The Collegium System has faced great criticism not only from the government but also from civil society for its lack of transparency and accountability.

This led to the 99th Constitutional Amendment Act, the National Judicial Commission (NJC) Act in 2014, which replaced the collegium system for the appointment of judges.

The national judicial appointments commission act, 2014

A new article, Article 124A (which provides for the composition of the NJAC) , was inserted into the Constitution. The Bill laid down the procedure to be followed by the NJAC in recommending persons for appointment to the posts of Chief Justice of India and other Judges of the Supreme Court (SC) and Chief Justice and other Judges of the High Courts (HC). Under the amended provisions of the Constitution, the Commission would consist of the following six persons:

• Chief Justice of India (Chairman, ex officio)
• Two more of the senior judges of the Supreme Court, besides the Chief Justice of India, service ex officio.
• Union Law and Justice Minister, ex-officio
• Two important personalities
• A committee composed of these two distinguished individuals would nominate them.
• Chief Justice of India,
• Prime Minister of India and
• The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha (or, where there is no such Leader of the opposition, then the Leader of the single largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha), provided that out of the two eminent persons, one person would be from the scheduled castes, or scheduled tribes, or OBC, or minority communities, or a woman. Notables will be nominated for a period of three years and will not be eligible for re-nomination.

How do NJAC proponents defend it?

According to them, the enactment of the 99th Amendment was intended to correct the imbalance created by the court's verdict in the second case involving judges.

The NJAC would be a wider forum for them to have a real chance to participate in and influence the selection of our higher judiciary - not just the Supreme Court and the executive, but also lay people (dignitaries) outside the constitutional framework.

Conclusion

The NJAC was established to achieve greater transparency and accountability in the appointment of judges. However, the Supreme Court annulled it on the grounds that it contradicted the "independence of the judiciary", i.e. the principles of the basic structure, as it involved the political executive in the appointment of judges.

The current system for appointing supreme court justices is as follows:

• While appointing judges, the President is required to take the opinion of the CJI into account.
• CJI's opinion is binding on the government. The CJI's opinion must be formed after due consultation with a collegium of at least four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court.
• Even if two judges express a negative opinion, he should not send a recommendation to the government.