Rethinking judicial appointments: Collegium vs. Commission
Distilled Policy Brief
- Supreme Court struck down the NJAC Act and the related amendment to the Constitution, which had replaced the collegium system with an independent commission.
- The NJAC was to comprise the Chief Justice of India, two senior Supreme Court judges, the Union Law Minister, and two eminent persons nominated by the PM, CJI and Leader of Opposition.
🎯 Prelims High-Yield Examination Points
Constitutional mechanism for judicial appointments: collegium vs NJAC; Supreme Court judgment 2024; separation of powers principle.
⚖️ Mains Analytical & Syllabus Linkages
Analyze the impact of the 2024 Supreme Court judgment striking down the NJAC on judicial appointments, independence, and separation of powers; compare with international models.
🎯 UPSC Prelims Practice Drill
The Supreme Court, while striking down the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, held that the presence of executive members in the commission violated which basic feature of the Constitution?
- [A] Federalism
- [B] Separation of powers
- [C] Judicial review
- [D] Secularism
▶ Reveal Official Answer & Analytical Explanation
The Court observed that executive involvement in the appointment of judges impinges on judicial independence, thereby violating the principle of separation of powers, a basic feature of the Constitution. The other options are not mentioned as being breached in the judgment.
🏛️ Historical Twin PYQ Anchor (2021)
Consider the following statements regarding the "National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)": 1. It is implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. 2. Central Pollution Control Board acts as the sole regulatory executive body.