SSC
The establishment of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) for appointing judges of the higher judiciary was attempted through the:
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Answer: Option D — 99th Amendment Act, 2014
Detailed Solution
The 99th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2014, sought to replace the collegium system of appointing judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts with a National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC).
Composition of the proposed NJAC:
- The Chief Justice of India (Chairperson).
- Two other senior-most judges of the Supreme Court.
- The Union Minister of Law and Justice.
Two eminent persons, to be nominated by a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India and the Leader of the Opposition (or the leader of the largest opposition party) in the Lok Sabha; one of them was to be from the SCs, STs, OBCs, minorities or women.
The NJAC Act, 2014:
- Along with the amendment, Parliament passed the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014, to regulate the procedure of the NJAC.
- The amendment was ratified by more than half of the state legislatures, and came into force in April 2015.
The Supreme Court judgment (October 2015):
- In the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association case (the "Fourth Judges case"), a five-judge bench struck down the 99th Amendment and the NJAC Act by a 4-1 majority.
- The Court held that the primacy of the judiciary in the appointment of judges is part of the independence of the judiciary, which is a basic feature of the Constitution.
- It held that the presence of the Law Minister and "eminent persons" could compromise judicial independence.
Justice J. Chelameswar gave the dissenting judgment, supporting the NJAC.
The collegium system:
After the judgment, the collegium system was restored.
Under it, the Chief Justice of India and the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court recommend appointments to the Supreme Court, and a collegium of the Chief Justice of India and two senior-most judges decides on High Court appointments.
The collegium system developed through the "Second Judges case" (1993) and the "Third Judges case" (1998).
Why not the other options?
- ✗The 98th, 96th and 106th Amendments dealt with other matters.
Quick tip
Remember: 99th Amendment (2014) = National Judicial Appointments Commission; struck down by the Supreme Court in October 2015 (Fourth Judges case); collegium restored.
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Constitutional Amendments — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Constitutional Amendments, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the procedure for amending the Constitution under Article 368 and the most important amendments, such as the 1st, 7th, 42nd, 44th, 52nd, 61st, 73rd, 74th, 86th, 101st and 103rd Amendments, along with the basic structure doctrine. Exams ask what a particular amendment did: the 61st lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, the 73rd and 74th gave constitutional status to panchayats and municipalities, the 86th made education a Fundamental Right, and the 101st introduced GST. The 42nd Amendment (1976) is often called the 'mini-Constitution' because of how much it changed. Practise the constitutional amendments questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.