NATIONAL SYMPOSIUM

ON
NATIONAL JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT COMMISSION ACT V.
COLLEGIUM SYSTEM: ISSUES & CHALLENGES AHEAD

7TH NOVEMBER, 2015

ORGANIZED BY:
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW SOCIETY [CLS] &
HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCACY CELL (HRIDAY)
OF
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF STUDY & RESEARCH IN LAW, RANCHI
[NUSRL]

IN COLLABORATION WITH:
THINK INDIA.

CONCEPT NOTE

The independence of the judiciary forms a part of the basic structure in the Constitution. This in
turn, has become a part of a debate between the different organs of the constitution about its
limits. Consequently this unrelentless tussle between the executive and judiciary in the form of
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the formers interference into the latters independence formed the basis of the collegium system
through the case of S.C. Advocates on Record Association v. Union of India1 (and by a follow
up presidents reference to the court in 1998.)
However, the selection of judges through collegium is not present in the constitution. The
collegium system has been criticized for its impracticality, lack of transparency and improper
implementation.2
Besides the collegiums deliberations are secret, the system is opaque and the choice of a judge
is only known when his name is forwarded to the government for formal appointment.3
On October 16, 2015 a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court heard a challenge to the validity
of the 99th Amendment 4 and the statute that sought to put in place a system of judicial
appointments led by a National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) and by a majority of
four to one in a judgment of over a thousand pages, the Court struck down both the Amendment
and the statute.
India is the only constitutional democracy where the judiciary appoints its own judges. There
was an urgent need to restructure the prevalent scheme. The working of the constitution has
revealed that the Chief Justices have not been able to hold on against the determined executive
action and even where the Chief Justice is in a position to assert his point of view, he can wholly
be subjective in his approach. All these aspects are not conducive to the healthy growth of the
institution of judiciary. Therefore, a new way to appoint judges to the Supreme Court and High
Courts5 has to be devised.6

S.C.Advocates on Record Association v. Union of India , A.I.R.1994 S.C. 268., commonly known as the Second
Judges Case.
2
N H Hingorani, Collegium System of Judicial Appointments : Constitutionally Invalid, (Oct. 28, 2014),
http://www.lawyersupdate.co.in/LU/1/1591.asp
3
V R Krishna Iyer, Time for change, Frontline, (Oct. 21, 2014),
http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl2805/stories/20110311280510600.htm
4
The Amendment provided that the NJAC will consist of six people, includes, the Chief Justice of India, the two
seniormost judges of the Supreme Court, the Law Minister, and two eminent persons.
5
T. R. Andhyarujina, Dont close the door on NJAC as yet, The Hindu, (Nov. 9, 2014),
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dont-close-the-door-on-national-judicial-appointments-commissionasyet/article6350842.ece.
6
Law Commission of India, 121st Report, 41 also see 14th Law Commission Report.

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For the appointment of High Court judges, the NJAC Act, 2014 requires the views of the
Governor and Chief Minister to be given in writing. But the Act is silent as to what happens if
the Governor or Chief Minister or both object. 7 The 124th Constitutional amendment (99th
Amendment Act) Bill, 2014 and the National Judicial Appointment Commission Act, 2014 are
criticized as seriously flawed and contrary to elementary principles of constitutional law. Both
laws will also be wholly unworkable in practice.8
The National Judicial Appointment Commission that was suggested by the Venkatachaliah
Committee was a five-member body consisting of three senior-most Supreme Court judges, the
Union Minister and one eminent person. There is no clarity as to what happens if there is a
deadlock? Is there any quorum? What are the provisions for removal of the members of the
NJAC when necessary? What if the veto power is misused to appoint someone undesirable?

THEMES
Against this backdrop, the theme of the Symposium would be Whether, under our
constitutional scheme, the only means to achieve an independent judiciary is by granting
primacy to the CJI and his colleagues.
Answering this question would have entailed an analysis on the methods of maintaining an
independent judiciary, and a consideration of:
Does the removal of the prerogative solely vested in the collegium in appointing judges to
Indias higher judiciary violate the Constitutions basic structure?

Arvind P. Datar, A fatally flawed commission, The Hindu, (Oct. 26, 2014), http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/oped/national-judicial-appointments-commission-a-fatally-flawedcommission/article6326265.ece
8
Ibid.

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CALL FOR ARTICLES

Articles are invited from the academicians, practitioners, researchers, scholars, activists, and
Ph.D students on the issues related to relevant areas of study. Abstracts would be reviewed by
the organizing committee review group. It is also proposed that the selected papers by the CLS
will be published in a special volume on the seminar in the form of an edited book with ISBN.
We consider four different types of articles for publication on the portal. The different article
types are academic, feature, opinion, and interview and they are discussed in more detail below.
The author of the article agrees that the work he/she is submitting meets the appropriate criteria
and does not infringe upon any copyright or intellectual property laws. All submitted articles are
first screened by the editor-in-chief to determine:
1. The suitability and appropriateness of the article topic,
2. The academic rigor and writing quality of the article,
3. The type of article submitted, and
4. If the article meets the criteria defined for that type of article.
Note: If the article is not suitable or is deemed low quality, then the article will be rejected.
However, if the article meets the above criteria, it will be accepted and go through the review
process. After the review process, the article will be subject to one of the following outcomes:
1. Publishable. Accept with no revisions, minor revisions, or some major revisions.
2. Not publishable yet. The author must rewrite and submit as a new submission for a new
full round of reviews.
3. Not publishable and cannot be salvaged.

PROCEDURE FOR PARTICIPATION

Interested participants are required to submit the abstract (not more than 200 words) by
5th November to email id: clsnusrlranchi@gmail.com. All abstract shall contain following

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informations: Name of the Author, Designation, Email id and Contact no., full corresponding
address and sub themes under which they wish to present the paper.

GUIDELINES FOR ARTICLE SUBMISSION

Shortlisted abstracts author will be requested to submit full article. Article should not be of more
than 1200 words and must be accompanied by a brief profile of the author indicating his email
ID, contact number and official address. It must be typed in Times New Roman Font Size 12 on
A4 size paper with 1 margin on all sides with 1.5 line spacing using MS Word. A Uniform Style
of Citation must be strictly adhered to while submitting the abstracts and full paper. All the
abstracts and full length articles shall be sent on email id: clsnusrlranchi@gmail.com.

Last Date for Submission of Abstract: 5th November, 2015

Intimation for the acceptance of Abstract: 6th November, 2015 latest by 10:00 A.M.
Last Date for Submission of Full Article: 6th November, 2015 latest by 10:00 P.M.

REGISTRATION
After notification of acceptance for selected papers on our website or through E-mail, those
willing to present their papers should submit their Registration Form along with their detailed
travel plan. There is no registration fee whatsoever.
The Organizing Committee does not provide travelling allowances and has to be managed solely
by the participant. However, hospitality including breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner (on the days of
the seminar) shall be provided by the organizers at the venue.

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EVENT ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Patron: Prof. (Dr.) B.C. Nirmal, Vice-Chancellor, NUSRL, Ranchi.
Director: Dr. P.P. Mitra, President, Constitutional Law Society, NUSRL.
Mobile -91-8294633722
E-Mail-ppmitra1977@yahoo.com

CONVENOR: KUMAR HARSHVARDHAN

Mobile +91-7766977393
E-Mail- harshpathak21@gmail.com.
TREASURER: ANJANI NANDAN SINGH,
Mobile +91-7070577733
E-Mail- anjani1singh@gmail.com
COORDINATOR: ARJIT RAJ KAKER
Mobile -91-+91-7054473650
E-Mail-nusrl.arjit@gmail.com

FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR ANY ENQUIRY KINDLY CONTACT:

MR. ARJIT RAJ KAKER, Mobile +91-7054473650
MR. SHANTANU SHARMA, Mobile +91-7295866657

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