Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Friday that the Supreme Court verdict quashing the National Judicial Appointments Commission(NJAC) and restoring the collegium system for appointing judges was a setback for parliamentary sovereignty.Prasad said the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) was part of judicial reforms which was exercised after deep consideration."In our view this exercise was done after deep consideration of more than 20 years which was part of judicial reforms. We will go through the judgment and come out with a structured response," Prasad told reporters.
Prasad was speaking after the Supreme Court struck down the constitution's 99th amendment and the NJAC Act as unconstitutional, restoring the collegium system for appointment of judges to the higher judiciary.
"We believe NJAC act would help strengthen judiciary," Prasad added.
"Various commissions headed by eminent judges, including Administrative Reforms Commission and different parliamentary committees had recommended NJAC," said the communication minister, who is a lawyer by profession and a former law minister.
"Even former chief justice JS Verma had publicly raised misgivings on the working of the collegium system and had suggested a serious think," he added.
Prasad said the NJAC bill was brought to Parliament in a "truly remarkable scenario".
"Our government brought about NJAC bill in a truly remarkable scenario in the country.
"There was complete political unanimity. The Lok Sabha passed it without a single dissent and in the Rajya Sabha there was only a single walkout.
"Twenty legislatures of the states unanimously approved it despite the continuous divide in the politics of India," he said.
Law minister D V Sadananda Gowda said the next course of action will be decided after consultations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Cabinet colleagues.
"We are surprised by the verdict of the Supreme Court," Gowda told reporters in Bengaluru.
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