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Why don’t you trust PM, Law Minister asks judiciary
Context
Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in his sharp criticism of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) judgment urges to appoint a “fair judge.”
PM’s obligation
- Mr Prasad hard-pressed on the trust of the people of India on the Prime Minister with the obligation to secure the unity and integrity of India.
- Mr Prasad considers that the Prime Minister through his Ministers can do so much work, yet the Prime Minister through the Law Minister cannot be trusted to have a fair judge appointed.
Trust in PM
- Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra responded to Mr. Prasad by pointedly saying that the judiciary reposed as much trust in a popularly elected PM as the public does.
- Under the now struck down Article 124A of the Constitution, the Law Minister was an ex officio member of the NJAC and the Prime Minister was part of the three-member panel which nominated the two eminent persons to the NJAC, which was meant to give the political class an equal say in judicial appointments to the Supreme Court and the High Courts.
- In the gathering at Vigyan Bhawan was former Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar, who authored the majority judgment in the NJAC case in October 2015.
