Even as the Executive and the Judiciary continue to be at an impasse over judicial appointments, legal luminaries have suggested a possible way out..In a seminar organized by Law Information Center (LIC) marking the 45th anniversary of the landmark Kesavananda Bharati judgement, former Supreme Court judge Justice AK Patnaik opined that the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) was the solution to what seems to be a never-ending problem..“In my personal opinion, it (the Constitution Bench of Supreme Court) should not have struck NJAC down,” he suggested, adding,.“Altogether 6 members were supposed to be a part of the committee. The difference of opinion was on the appointment of 2 eminent people and law minister. They should have rejected the inclusion of 2 eminent persons but accepted law minister as a part of it. .Even if the law minister had problems with any appointment, the committee comprising three senior most Supreme Court judges could have overruled him. This way they would have accepted the structure given by the legislature, yet had a way out to overrule executive interference. This was a golden opportunity missed.”.Justice Patnaik also enlightened those present in the audience on the thought process of a judge, consensus building, and its importance in strengthening the judgment as a precedent..However, the Chief Guest of the event, sitting Supreme Court judge, Justice L Nageswara Rao, refrained from commenting on any issue in dispute. Instead, he offered some interesting information on the origins of the Basic Structure doctrine..“Basic structure was originally propounded by a German Scholar to suit their domestic conditions especially in the aftermath of the World War II. Prof Dietrich Conrad, head of the law department at the South Asia Institute of the University of Heidelberg, mentioned it in his lecture in BHU, and the same was reproduced as a paper. This was read out to the Supreme Court by Mr Nambiar during the course of the Golaknath hearing.”.Golaklnath had held that the constitutional amendments pursuant to Article 368 were subject to fundamental rights review. Kesavananda Bharati asserted that only those amendments which tend to affect the ‘Basic structure of the Constitution‘ were subject to judicial review..Senior Advocate AK Ganguly spoke on the impact of Kesavananda Bharati on other constitutional matters in the subsequent years..President of LIC and host of the seminar, Senior Advocate Aruneshwar Gupta quoted from the autobiography of former Supreme Court judge, Justice Jaganmohan Reddy, where he had accepted that the judgment was influenced by Adolf Hitler. Justice Reddy was one of the majority Judges in Kesavananda Bharati case..Senior Advocate Adinarayan Rao gave the vote of thanks and also summed up what the dignitaries spoke for the audience.
Even as the Executive and the Judiciary continue to be at an impasse over judicial appointments, legal luminaries have suggested a possible way out..In a seminar organized by Law Information Center (LIC) marking the 45th anniversary of the landmark Kesavananda Bharati judgement, former Supreme Court judge Justice AK Patnaik opined that the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) was the solution to what seems to be a never-ending problem..“In my personal opinion, it (the Constitution Bench of Supreme Court) should not have struck NJAC down,” he suggested, adding,.“Altogether 6 members were supposed to be a part of the committee. The difference of opinion was on the appointment of 2 eminent people and law minister. They should have rejected the inclusion of 2 eminent persons but accepted law minister as a part of it. .Even if the law minister had problems with any appointment, the committee comprising three senior most Supreme Court judges could have overruled him. This way they would have accepted the structure given by the legislature, yet had a way out to overrule executive interference. This was a golden opportunity missed.”.Justice Patnaik also enlightened those present in the audience on the thought process of a judge, consensus building, and its importance in strengthening the judgment as a precedent..However, the Chief Guest of the event, sitting Supreme Court judge, Justice L Nageswara Rao, refrained from commenting on any issue in dispute. Instead, he offered some interesting information on the origins of the Basic Structure doctrine..“Basic structure was originally propounded by a German Scholar to suit their domestic conditions especially in the aftermath of the World War II. Prof Dietrich Conrad, head of the law department at the South Asia Institute of the University of Heidelberg, mentioned it in his lecture in BHU, and the same was reproduced as a paper. This was read out to the Supreme Court by Mr Nambiar during the course of the Golaknath hearing.”.Golaklnath had held that the constitutional amendments pursuant to Article 368 were subject to fundamental rights review. Kesavananda Bharati asserted that only those amendments which tend to affect the ‘Basic structure of the Constitution‘ were subject to judicial review..Senior Advocate AK Ganguly spoke on the impact of Kesavananda Bharati on other constitutional matters in the subsequent years..President of LIC and host of the seminar, Senior Advocate Aruneshwar Gupta quoted from the autobiography of former Supreme Court judge, Justice Jaganmohan Reddy, where he had accepted that the judgment was influenced by Adolf Hitler. Justice Reddy was one of the majority Judges in Kesavananda Bharati case..Senior Advocate Adinarayan Rao gave the vote of thanks and also summed up what the dignitaries spoke for the audience.
