No proposal to reintroduce bill on NJAC now: Govt in RS

There is no proposal at present to reintroduce a bill on National Judicial Appointments Commission, Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.

Responding to a question by Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Communist Party of India-Marxist's John Britas on whether the government proposes to reintroduce NJAC with "suitable modifications", Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said in a written reply that "at present there is no such proposal".

The NJAC Act, which sought to overturn the collegium system of appointing Supreme Court and high court judges, was struck down by the top court in 2015.

The NJAC Bill and an accompanying Constitution amendment were passed by Parliament with near unanimity.

Rijiju had been attacking the collegium system, describing it as being "alien" to the Constitution.

Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar, in his maiden speech in the upper house on Wednesday, criticised the judiciary for scrapping the NJAC law, terming it as an instance of "severe compromise of parliamentary sovereignty", and said the three organs should respect the "Lakshman Rekha".

Dhankhar had expressed similar views on two earlier occasions in the recent past.

"Recently, he had described it a "serious" matter that there was "no whisper" in Parliament after the NJAC law was struck down by the apex court.