• Abhinav Shakula
• Dr Shailesh N Hadli

ABSTRACT An Independent Judiciary is always considered as the most important part of any democratic setup as democracy, written constitution and separation of power are often considered as interdependent on each other and it is the Independent Judiciary which ensures the spirit of constitutionalism. The manner of appointments of judges in any nation decides the extent of Independence of Judiciary. India being the world’s largest democratic republic with the lengthiest constitution has its own manner and procedure of judicial appointments. The bare text of the Constitution mentions that the President of India in consultation with the Chief Justice of India shall appoint the Judges of the High Courts (hereinafter referred as HC) and the Supreme Court (hereinafter referred as SC). After 3 decades of enforcement of the Constitution, a question aroused as to what exactly the Constituent assembly intended with regards to the judicial appointments? The verdicts of the Judges case and Advocates-on-Record Association v Union of India (NJAC verdict) gave a new dimension to the judicial appointments in India. Right from the First judges case in 1981 upto the NJAC verdict in 2015, the question still has no clear answer as to who should have the final say in the judicial appointments, the judges themselves through collegium or the President of India. The Hon’ble SC although has clearly interpreted article 124 and Article 217 in a broad manner giving the upper hand to the CJI along with the collegium but this didn’t windup the issue. The existing procedure faces criticism due to slow and non transparent system of appointment. This paper aims at suggesting a method of appointment which is most suitable for facilitating an independent, efficient and transparent judiciary along with the speedy appointments for filling the vacant positions and to reduce the plethora of pending cases across the nation.

Independent Judiciary, Collegium, NJAC, Judicial Appointments, High Court and Supreme Court judges.

"JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS IN INDIA – A CRITICAL ANALYSIS TOWARDS AMELIORATION", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.8, Issue 5, page no.c21-c40, May-2021, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2105258.pdf

"JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS IN INDIA – A CRITICAL ANALYSIS TOWARDS AMELIORATION", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.8, Issue 5, page no. ppc21-c40, May-2021, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2105258.pdf