Indian
Express: New Delhi: Thursday, 31 December 2015.
Its walls
still smell of fresh paint. The long, pebbled pathway leading up to it is
surrounded by shrubs and uncut grass. Policemen standing guard at adjoining
buildings are clueless why the sprawling bungalow number AB-13 in the heart of
Delhi has been lying vacant for almost a year.
The bungalow
was supposed to be the cynosure of the NDA government’s ambitious plan to
change the way judges are appointed in the country. It was earmarked to be the
headquarters of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) which was
at the centre of a crucial debate this year and was struck down by the Supreme
Court, incidentally located barely 100 metres away. Now, the bungalow has been
allotted to Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das.
In response
to an RTI application filed by The Indian Express, the Ministry of Law and
Justice said that after the constitutional amendment bill and the NJAC Act was
unanimously passed by both Houses of Parliament, it had requested the Urban
Development Ministry to allocate a space to serve as the NJAC headquarters.
Accordingly, on February 17 this year, AB-13 a Type 7 bungalow was allotted to
the Department of Justice.
Within a
month, occupation of the bungalow was taken over by the Department of Justice
and the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) was requested to paint the house
and carry out necessary repairs.
According to
the RTI response, seven posts were sanctioned by the Finance Ministry to work
for the NJAC, and the Department of Justice had requested the Ministry of Home
Affairs (MHA) to make officials available. Accordingly, seven officers,
including a deputy secretary and an under secretary, were provided to work at
the NJAC headquarters.
However,
before AB-13 could be converted into a full-fledged office, where applications
of those who want to become judges would be scrutinised, the plan met its
Waterloo. A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on October 16 declared as
unconstitutional the amendment to validate the NJAC Act, which had contemplated
a significant role for the executive in appointing judges to the higher
judiciary. Sealing the fate of the proposed system, the apex court ruled with a
4:1 majority that judges’ appointments shall continue to be made by the
Collegium system in which the Chief Justice of India will have “the last word”.
On December 9
more than a month after the NJAC was quashed the Department of Justice handed
back the possession of the vacant bungalow to the CPWD.
Of the seven
officers sanctioned for NJAC work, the deputy secretary and the under secretary
were sent back to the MHA. The rest were “adjusted” against vacant posts in the
Department of Justice.
The Indian
Express has learnt that the Urban Development Ministry allotted the bungalow to
Das on December 21. Das, however, is yet to occupy the house, which would have
been a focal point in judicial history had the NJAC passed the muster.
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