99th Amendment of the Indian Constitution. (UPSC CSE Mains 2015- Political Science and International Relations, Paper 1)
The National Judicial Commission was established due to the 99th Constitutional Amendment, 2014. This amendment substituted the National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC) for the collegium system of appointing judges. However, the Supreme Court backed the collegium system and ruled that the NJAC was contradicting the basic structure principle and the judiciary’s independence. The commission would be comprised of six people under the proposed NJAC Act: the Chief Justice of India (Chairperson), two other senior Supreme Court judges sitting next to the CJI, the Union Law Minister, and two eminent individuals chosen by a committee made up of the CJI, the Prime Minister, and the Leader of the Opposition. The NJAC gave the panel the authority to suggest candidates for the positions of Chief Justice of India, justices of the Supreme Court, Chief Justices of High Courts, and other High Court judges. The CJI and other judges of the High Courts may be transferred from one High Court to another at its recommendation.
To replace the system, which received criticism over the years for its lack of transparency, the Constitution (99th Amendment) Act, introduced three key Articles- 124 A, B, and C and amended clause 2 of Article 124. Article 124A created the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC), a constitutional body to replace the collegium system. Article 124B vested in this NJAC the power to make appointments to both the Supreme Court and the various high courts. Article 124C accorded express authority to Parliament to make laws regulating the NJAC’s functioning.
In 2015, the Constitution Bench (4:1 Majority) of the Supreme Court declared the 99th Constitutional Amendment and National Judicial Commission (NJAC) unconstitutional on the ground that it violates the Basic Structure of the Constitution of India.
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