A better NJAC: Politicians are right on the collegium. But can their solution rise above politics, that’s the question

News: A demand for introducing National Judicial Appointments Commission has been resurfaced in Lok Sabha.

What is National Judicial Appointments Commission?

Why did the demand for NJAC arise?

Supporters of collegium cite executive overreach and suspicious government interest in judicial appointments in the 1970s. But after the first and second judges’ case, collegium itself has been mired by opaqueness, nepotism, and lack of accountability.

Also, the political class is not favoring the principle of “judges appointing judges”, the model which is not applicable anywhere in the world.

How to make NJAC more accountable?

First, In the earlier NJAC Act, the rule that any two commission members can veto a candidate seems to give the Government of India primacy. This veto power should be changed.

Second, the choice of civil society members in the earlier NJAC Act must pass the smell test. i.e., the coherence of both PM and LoP is needed to appoint civil society members.

Source: This post is based on the article “A better NJAC: Politicians are right on the collegium. But can their solution rise above politics, that’s the question” published in the Times of India on 10th December 2021.