- About collegiums system
- Collegium is a system through which judges of SC and High Court (HC) are appointed by the President under Article 124 and 217 of the Constitution respectively (refer to the box).
- It has evolved through judgments of the SC, referred to as 3 Judges Cases and pronounced in 1981, 1993, and 1998.
- Currently, the collegium system is governed by the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP).
- Advantage: Keeps Judiciary independent from politics by protecting the judiciary from the influence of executive and legislative.
- Criticism: Neither a Constitutional nor a statutory body, no prescribed norms for eligibility criteria, lack of transparency and accountability, allegations of nepotism and quid pro quo, etc.
- Collegium is a system through which judges of SC and High Court (HC) are appointed by the President under Article 124 and 217 of the Constitution respectively (refer to the box).
- National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC)
- The NJAC was established by the 99th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2014 to replace the collegium system.
- However, SC in Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association and Anr. vs. UoI (2015) declared NJAC unconstitutional.
- NJAC, in addition to judicial members also had non-judge members (Union law minister and 2 eminent persons).
- This was considered to be violating the separation of powers between the executive and judiciary.
Appointment by Collegium
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