Arun Jaitley regretted NJAC getting struck down in belief it curtailed judicial independence: Supreme Court advocate Luthra

New Delhi: Eminent lawyer and senior advocate Sidharth Luthra has recently said the late Arun Jaitley who was a die-hard constitutionalist and a supporter of judicial independence, but his only regret was that the NJAC which was the reform he whole heartedly supported and which he believed would resurrect and support judicial independence got struck down in the belief that this was an attempt to curtail it.

"His view, and one that I concur in, that the collegium system was needed at a point in our Constitutional history but had outlived its purpose leading to restricted tenures at the High Court and Supreme Court leading to a race amongst senior judges to be accommodated in the Supreme Court which subconsciously often impacted decision making," he said.

This coupled with the desire for post-retirement jobs, did not secure Judicial independence but restricted it, he felt.

"To resurrect, he (Jaitley) believed that judicial oversight seen during coalition regimes was needed more in times when the executive comprised of Governments with brute majorities in Parliament and Legislatures, for it is then that the role of Judiciary in protecting rights, questioning policy, administrative decisions and challenging unjust laws was most needed," Luthra pointed out.

National Judicial Appointment Commission Act enacted in 2014 sought to replace the Collegium system for appointment of High Courts and Supreme Court judges but it was struck down by a majority view of 4:1 by a Constitution bench.

Luthra was speaking in a lecture organised by O P Jindal Global University on role of the judiciary in protecting the constitutional foundation of law and policy.

He said, Jaitely, having suffered imprisonment during emergency and lived through an era of both centrist and coalition governments, was a great believer in the need for judicial oversight in protecting constitutional values while reviewing administrating decisions, laws and policies.

"In his desire to ensure judicial independence he was cautious yet firm in ensuring that judicial appointments be thoroughly scrutinised to ensure people of integrity and character adorn the post of judges of Constitutional Courts," he pointed out.

In his speech, Luthra also pointed out Constitutional courts have adopted a form of judicial activism wherein specific directions are issued to governments and other interested parties in cases where there is a vacuum in government Policy/Legislature and/or in cases where there is an imminent need to protect fundamental rights.