Parliament on Thursday cleared a Constitution amendment bill that will facilitate setting up of a commission for appointment of judges, replacing the 20-year-old collegium system which has been under severe criticism.
A day after passage in the Lok Sabha, the Constitution Amendment Bill was cleared by the Rajya Sabha with 179 votes in favour and one abstention of noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani.
The bill will make way for the setting up of National Judicial Appointments Commission which will appoint and transfer judges to the Supreme Courts and the 24 high courts.
The bill will come into force after ratification by 50 per cent of the state legislatures. The process could take up to eight months. After ratification, the government will send it to the President for his assent.
With the passage of the bill, the collegium system of judges choosing judges is set to be changed in the coming months. The Constitution amendment bill will grant constitutional status to the NJAC and its composition.
Under the statute amendment bill, Chief Justice of India will head the NJAC. Besides the CJI, the judiciary would be represented by two senior judges of the Supreme Court. Two eminent personalities and the law minister will be the other members of the proposed body.
The prominent people, one of whom will belong to either of SC/ST, OBC, minorities or a woman, will be selected by a panel of Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India and the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha or the leader of the largest opposition party in the Lower House.
The bill was passed by voice vote without any opposition.
176 members voted in favour of the Constitution Amendment Bill, no votes were registered against it.
A landmark bill to replace the collegium system of judges choosing judges was passed on Wednesday in the Lok Sabha after government dropped a controversial provision that required unanimity in recommendation if President seeks reconsideration. The bill was passed with a voice vote after the discussion to scrap the existing collegium system.
According to the new Bill, even if the proposed six-member commission that will replace the existing collegium system of judges selecting judges recommends names unanimously, a clause in the Bill empowers the government to not only return the recommendations, but also reject if recommended again by a majority. This gives the government or executive the final say on judges appointment in the higher judiciary, a power snatched away by the judiciary through two historic judgments of the Constitution Bench in 1993 and 1998.