SC admits pleas challenging Judicial Appointment Bill  nil

SC admits pleas challenging Judicial Appointment Bill

by IBNS 21 Aug 2014, 08:07 am

New Delhi, Aug 21 (IBNS): The Supreme Court has agreed to hear petitions challenging National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014 and will take up the batch of petitions on Monday.

The top court will take up on Monday three petitions that oppose the scrapping of the collegium system of five senior most judges deciding on appointments and transfers in the higher judiciary.
 
The petitioners have alleged that the Bill is unconstitutional.
 
The upper house of Parliament- Rajya Sabha- on Aug 14 passed the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014 and Constitutional Amendment Bill, a new proposal that scraps the collegium system in the appointment of the judges and thus gives the Executive in the selection of judges though a Commission.  
 
Now the judges would not be appointed only by a collegium of senior Supreme Court judges but by a panel of Commission of six members comprising the Chief Justice of India, the next two most senior judges of the Supreme Court, the Law Minister,  and two eminent personalities, the last two to be selected by the Prime Minister and the Leader of Opposition.
 
The Bill now awaits the President's approval.