Govt can’t be part of judge appts as it’s the biggest litigator: SC
The Supreme Court on Tuesday put the government in a fix as it said that it could not be part of the proposed commission under the new law to appoint judges since it was the biggest litigator in courts.
A constitution bench headed by justice JS Kehar told Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi that inclusion of the Union law minister in the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) undermined the independence of the judiciary and this would erode citizens’ confi- dence in the administration of justice.
NJAC is under challenge before the top court. A batch of petitions have been filed by various bar bodies and individuals assailing the new law on the ground it hits the basic structure of the Constitution, which is independence of judiciary.
Initiating the defence for the government, Rohatgi made a spirited effort to defend the government move to end the two decade old collegium system by which judges appointed judges.
But the bench countered him and said he should satisfy the court on the issue that NJAC did not violate the Constitution. It even reminded him that the same NDA government had in 1998 agreed to abide by a ruling on over the primacy of judiciary in the appointment process of judges.
“The citizen of the country is not interested in knowing who is the Chief Justice of India, or how many judges are going to decide his case whether it is two or three. Citizen of the country is only concerned as to whether his case is set to be decided impartially, when the stake holders are participating in the appointment judicial process,” justice Kehar told Rohatgi.