NJAC - Stuck down ~ Wrongly and must be corrected with a legislative effort.

Much has been said and written about this verdict. And for a change Arnab Goswami compered a discussion that brought out very interesting points. Prior to this were a series of articles and the Readers Editor of The Hindu had summed it up in his weekly report titled 'Moment to Cherish - Moment to Reflect' .

Justice Lodhas views as in the 'Op ed column' sum up one side of the argument and provides a good background to the views of the judiciary.

For me, as a citizen, this action of the judiciary to frown upon the executive, and comment adversely while not cleaning up their own domain, is a bad precedent and must be corrected through a legislative action. The constitution in Article 124 confers the power to appoint judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts on the President of India after consultations with such of the Judges as the president may deem necessary. As Justice Lodha indicated that 'consultations' has been interpreted as 'concurrence' by the judiciary. Sri Arun Jaitley, one of the most respected voices, in the current cabinet indicated many instances when this 'concurrence' has been misused.

The current genre of politicians have earned the distinction of being unreliable, corrupt and self serving and that has coloured the opinion of the judgement, is clear. It therefore assumes that the electoral system as it is in the present form, will continue to elect and empower legislature which will not be much different than the current.

Such premonitions may be well found given the mounting evidence, but does not justify by any stretch of imagination assuming the powers themselves.

The Judiciary has erred in assuming that it can provide solutions for every problem including appointing its own self. We cannot have a situation where there is continued 'Opacity' in the appointment of judges and there is a distinct possibility that a wrong decision can be made in the choice of future judges.

In my opinion, as mandated in the constitution article 124, Judges of the Supreme Court and High Court shall be appointed through a 'Consultative process', where the Legislature and Judiciary have to reach a consensus. None is superior over other ~ and each is supreme in its own sphere.

The moment has arrived when the institutions which our forefathers have framed, have to put down their mutual animosities, and mistrust and reach a consensus for a way forward. This is evident from the various exchanges, as both sides have admitted that there is scope for improvement in the current system of appointment of judges and that it is essential that this done early.

As Justcie Lodha majestically sums up in his article ~ " Appoint good judges; the rest will follow."

Another good lead by a respected Judge Re-Inventing the Collegium