Key Terms & Concepts — UPSC Mains
National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC)
"A proposed body to appoint higher-judiciary judges that the Supreme Court struck down in 2015 as unconstitutional."
The National Judicial Appointments Commission was a constitutional body created by the 99th Constitutional Amendment Act and the NJAC Act, both of 2014, to replace the collegium in appointing Supreme Court and High Court judges. It was to comprise the Chief Justice of India, two senior-most SC judges, the Union Law Minister and two eminent persons. In October 2015, a five-judge Constitution Bench struck it down by a 4:1 majority in the Fourth Judges Case, holding that it violated the basic structure by compromising judicial independence.
GS2 (judiciary, separation of powers, basic structure). Prelims tests the 99th Amendment, the 2015 verdict and the NJAC's composition. Mains uses it to debate judicial accountability versus independence. Anchor: with the collegium still functioning and the Memorandum of Procedure unresolved through 2026, calls periodically resurface for a fresh judicial appointments mechanism after the NJAC's fall.
- 1 Created by the 99th Constitutional Amendment and NJAC Act, 2014
- 2 Proposed composition: CJI, two senior SC judges, Law Minister, two eminent persons
- 3 Struck down in October 2015 in the Fourth Judges Case by 4:1
- 4 Held to violate the basic structure and judicial independence
- 5 A veto by any two members was a key ground of objection
- 6 Its fall left the collegium system in place
The 2015 NJAC verdict remains the reference point whenever the executive-judiciary tussle over appointments flares up, as it did again during the 2026 debate over the Memorandum of Procedure.
