The Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed the Constitutional Amendment Bill which seeks to pave way for the creation of a Judicial Appointments Commission to replace the present collegium system to appoint judges to higher courts. The bill was passed after the BJP and its allies staged a walkout.
The Constitution (120th Amendment) Bill, 2013 was passed after a division with 131 members voting in its favour and one against. Meanwhile, the main bill, the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2013, which defines the establishment of the proposed body, was referred to the standing committee.
The BJP protested against the “piecemeal approach” of the government, with Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley demanding the Constitutional Amendment Bill also be sent to the standing committee for wider consultations and the government wait till the Parliament simultaneously passes the enabling legislation, the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2013, warning against the possibility of creating a “constitutional hiatus”. Union law minister Kapil Sibal rejected Mr Jaitley’s apprehension, saying the government will not take the constitutional amendment for presidential approval till the JAC bill is passed.
The government and the Opposition, however, came together to criticise the present system of appointing judges to the Supreme Court and high courts, saying it lacked transparency and accountability.
Moving the Bill, Mr Sibal said it is essential to restore the delicate balance of power which has been disturbed. Mr Sibal said the judiciary “rewrote Constitution” in 1993 when the collegium system of appointing judges to higher courts was adopted which disturbed the delicate balance between the Judiciary, the Legislature and the Executive. “With greatest respect to Supreme Court of India, I believe they rewrote Constitution,” he said. Underlining that appointment of judges has “nothing to do with judicial function”, he said, “The acts of appointments are executive acts. The judiciary has taken over executive power by rewriting Article 124 . That balance must be restored. Executive must have a say in appointment.’’ He said nobody knows how a judge is chosen under the collegium system.
“I am not saying that you should go back to 1993. There should be a Judicial Commission so that a collaborative exercise is there for their appointments. We do not want to impose our decisions in judicial appointments.
“That is why we have made provisions for inclusion of two eminent persons in the Judicial Commission whose names will be decided by the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Chief Justice of India jointly,” the minister said.