National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Bill gets President’s assent

President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Bill, 2014 that seeks to scrap the collegium system of appointing judges to higher judiciary. This bill lays down the procedure that must be followed by NJAC for appointment as Chief Justice of India (CJI) and other Judges of the Supreme Court (SC), and appointment and transfer Chief Justice and other Judges of High Courts (HC). This bill was passed by Parliament in August 2014. This assent comes after 121st Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2014 was ratified by 16 state legislatures out of the 29. 121st Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2014: It grants Constitutional status to the NJAC and its composition which will be headed by the Chief Justice of India. Thus, President Assent paves the way for the setting up of NJAC, which will appoint and transfer judges to the Supreme Courts and the 24 High Courts.