Supreme Court (SC) Registry Refuses to Receive Petition To Abolish Collegium System & Revive NJAC | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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Supreme Court (SC) Registry Refuses to Receive Petition To Abolish Collegium System & Revive NJAC

Posted 27 Apr 2024

2 min read

  • About collegiums system 
    • Collegium is a system through which judges of SC and High Court (HC) are appointed by the President under Article 124 and 217 of the Constitution respectively (refer to the box).
      • It has evolved through judgments of the SC, referred to as 3 Judges Cases and pronounced in 1981, 1993, and 1998.
    • Currently, the collegium system is governed by the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP).
    • Advantage: Keeps Judiciary independent from politics by protecting the judiciary from the influence of executive and legislative.
    • Criticism: Neither a Constitutional nor a statutory body, no prescribed norms for eligibility criteria, lack of transparency and accountability, allegations of nepotism and quid pro quo, etc. 

 

  • National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC)
    • The NJAC was established by the 99th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2014 to replace the collegium system.
    • However, SC in Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association and Anr. vs. UoI (2015) declared NJAC unconstitutional.
      • NJAC, in addition to judicial members also had non-judge members (Union law minister and 2 eminent persons). 
      • This was considered to be violating the separation of powers between the executive and judiciary.

 

Appointment by Collegium 

  • Appointment in SC: The collegium consists of CJI and four other senior-most judges of the SC.
  • Appointment in HC 
    • The collegium in HC consists of Chief Justice of HC and two seniormost judges of the concerned HC.
    • The collegium in SC consists of CJI and two seniormost Judges of the SC.
  • Tags :
  • Collegium System
  • NJAC
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