Appointment of judges is not an integral part of the independence of judiciary, asserts law Minister DV Sadananda Gowda, who also dismisses fears that the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) is tilted in favour of the Executive.
He also added that the primacy of the judiciary will always be there in the appointments, notwithstanding the fact that the collegium will not exist.
“The appointment of judges is not an integral part of independence of the judiciary. It is an executive function because the orders will be issued by an executive order,” he said.
“It passes through various stages and goes to the Prime Minister. Finally the President will act. So, it will not be a judicial order, it will be an executive function,” he told PTI in an interview.
Gowda’s remarks come in the midst of an SC on the validity of the NJAC Act where the Centre has attacked the collegium system of judges’ appointment saying that it did not follow the principle of meritocracy in which many “undeserving” persons became judges.
Gowda also responded to a question on fears that the end of the over two-decade-long collegium system would mean an end of the judiciary’s supremacy in appointing judges.