Top Court in India Rejects Judicial Appointment Law
The Supreme Court of India decided that a new law which is to change the structure of judicial appointments is unconstitutional. The Indian judiciary, traditionally, was appointed by a 20-year-old collegium of five senior judges, but the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Bill substituted that system last year with appointment by a panel of six, which includes a mix of Supreme Court judges and politicians.
The court maintained that the new law would damage the primary quality of the Constitution under which, the superiority in appointment of judges lies with the judiciary. As a result, NJAC cannot stand and the previous collegium system must be restored.
