Higher judiciary appointments through NJAC soon, says Sadananda Gowda

SULLIA (DK DISTRICT): The process of appointments to higher judiciary through the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) is all set to come in to vogue shortly. This Commission will replace the prevailing Collegium system in which the Supreme Court consisting of five senior most judges including the Chief Justice of India recommended names for appointment, union minister for law and justice D V Sadananda Gowda said on Friday.
In an informal chat with media on the sidelines of a function here, Gowda said 16 out of 30 states have ratified 121st Constitutional Amendment Bill which both houses of the Parliament approved in August. The two houses have also passed the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014, he said. Once the Rajya Sabha secretariat receives the ratifications from the state assemblies, it will be sent to the President for his assent.
The list of names for appointments received from the various state bar councils to the chief justices of high courts and from them to the Chief Justice of India have already been sent, the minister said. “The law ministry has vetted the lists and sent it to the commission for approval,” Sadananda Gowda said, adding by around mid-January 2015, nearly 10-20% of prevalent vacancies in the higher judiciary will be filled through the new process.
The minister said under Article 368 of the Constitution that empowers the Parliament to amend the Constitution, every such amendment has to be ratified by the legislatures of not less than one-half of the states by resolutions to that effect. With more than half the states ratifying the amendment, it will now be presented to the President for assent, Gowda said, adding this will pave the way for people with merit to be seen in judiciary.
The NJAC will consist of CJI as ex-officio chairperson, two other senior Judges of the SC next to CJI as ex-officio members, union minister of law and justice as ex-officio member; two eminent persons to be nominated by the committee consisting of the PM, the CJI and the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha or where there is no such leader of opposition, then, the leader of single largest opposition party – the Congress - in the Lok Sabha.