A day after parliament cleared the National Judicial Appointments Bill, which takes away the judicial supremacy in the appointment of judges in higher courts, Chief Justice of India RM Lodha on Friday cautioned the NDA government that all the three organs of the country should work independently without encroaching into other's domain.
In his speech on the occasion of 68th Independence Day at the Supreme Court lawn, Justice Lodha said "the Constitution provides for separation of the judiciary, the executive and the parliament. The constitution makers are ensured that all the vital organs of the State function independently without encroaching on the domains of the other."
He said lawmakers and people in the government should be "mature enough to understand that each organ has to work independently without extraneous considerations".
"All three vital organs operate in their respective fields and no one encroaches upon others domain. I am sure all of us — people in judiciary, executive and parliament will have respect for each other to achieve the constitutional goal," the CJI said.
Justice Lodha, who had already hit back at the government saying the collegiums system has not failed, reminded the lawmakers and said, "The Constitution accommodates a natural process" of discussion and debate before any change is made to the basic architecture of an important organ of the State.
The National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Bill 2014 will scrap the collegium system for appointment of judges in high courts and Supreme Court and replaces it with a commission. It proposes that the Chief Justice of India will head a six-member NJAC, other members of which would be the law minister, two senior Supreme Court judges and two eminent people. One eminent person will be nominated from among the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, OBCs, minorities or women.
A collegium comprising the prime minister, the CJI and the leader of the single largest party in the Lok Sabha will select the two eminent people.
Law minster Ravi Shankar Prasad, who also shared the dais, has defended the government's step and clarified saying "independence of judiciary will be upheld and I wish to assure you that sanctity of independence of judiciary is a matter of commitment from me and Modi government."
Recounting his role as an activist during the Emergency, Prasad said prime minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues Arun Jaitley and himself hold the judiciary in very high regard. "We all belong to that group of activists who had fought in the Emergency for freedom of individuals, freedom of press and judiciary which was under great strain at the time".
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}