Noting that the Supreme Court collegium system of judges appointing judges has ceased to exist, the Centre on Wednesday told the court that the government sat “overnight to clear 95 per cent” of the recommendations made by the collegium just a couple of days before the notification of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act on April 13.
Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi submitted before a Constitution Bench led by Justice J.S. Khehar on Wednesday that only three or four recommendations of the Collegium were “held back.” Mr. Rohatgi said the six-member NJAC “will be constituted very, very soon.”
The Attorney-General’s submission came during objections, raised by petitioners challenging the NJAC Act, that the presence of Justice Khehar, a member of the Supreme Court Collegium on the Constitution Bench, creates conflict of interest. They argued that a reasonable, well-informed member of the public would think that Justice Khehar might favour retaining the Collegium and all the power it wielded. Dismissing these objections, the Attorney-General countered that they were baseless because “as of today, the Collegium does not exist.”
Hearing from April 27Meanwhile, a five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed its focus on deciding the constitutionality of the new law without delay.The Bench expressed its intention to start hearing the batch of petitions challenging the NJAC law from April 27.
