New Delhi: Suraj India Trust has moved the Supreme Court seeking a review of the October 16 verdict quashing the NJAC law on judicial appointments by a larger bench of nine judges.
In its petition, it recalled an order passed by a two-judge bench in April 2011 framing 10 questions relating to the Collegium system of appointments for determination by a larger bench. However, this reference was dismissed by a three-judge bench in the absence of the counsel for the Trust and after hearing only the amicus curiae.
The efforts of the Trust for a hearing by a five-judge bench dealing with NJAC petitions did not fructify.
Since the issue relates to primacy in the matter of appointment of Judges of High Courts and the Supreme Court, the petition should be reconsidered and revisited by the larger bench so also for adjudication of the legal questions raised, viz. whether the seven-Judge Bench and nine-Judge Bench decisions of this Court amount to amending Article 124(2) of the Constitution, whether there is any ‘Collegium’ system for appointing Supreme Court or High Court Judges in the Constitution, whether the Constitution can be amended by a judicial verdict or it can only be amended by Parliament in accordance with Article 368, whether the Constitutional scheme was that the Supreme Court and High Court Judges can be appointed by mutual discussions etc.
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