{"id":91997,"date":"2026-04-15T15:56:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T10:26:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=91997"},"modified":"2026-04-17T12:01:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T06:31:43","slug":"99th-constitutional-amendment-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/99th-constitutional-amendment-act\/","title":{"rendered":"99th Constitutional Amendment Act, Features, Constitutionality"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>99th Constitutional Amendment Act of India<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was passed to reform the system of appointing judges in India. It amended the Constitution of India to establish the <\/span><b>National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC),<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which aimed to replace the Collegium System used for appointing judges to the <\/span><b>Supreme Court of India and High Courts of India.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The main objective of the amendment was to <\/span><b>make the judicial appointment process more transparent and participatory.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It is significant in constitutional studies as it reflects the debate over judicial reforms and the independence of the judiciary in India.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>99th Constitutional Amendment Act Background<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The background of the 99th Constitutional Amendment Act of India is related to the <\/span><b>long-standing debate about how judges should be appointed in India.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Under the <\/span><b>Collegium System,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> judges of the<\/span><b><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/supreme-court-of-india\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Supreme Court of India<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/high-courts-in-india\/\" target=\"_blank\">High Courts<\/a><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of India were selected mainly by senior judges of the judiciary. Over time, this system faced criticism for lacking transparency and accountability.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many people, including the government and legal experts, believed that the appointment process should include a broader group and be more open. As a result, the government proposed a change to the Constitution of India to create a new body called the <\/span><b>National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC).<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The aim was to make the appointment process more transparent and balanced by involving both the judiciary and the executive.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thus, the <\/span><b>99th Constitutional Amendment Act<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was introduced as an attempt to reform the judicial appointment system while maintaining the functioning of the judiciary.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>99th Constitutional Amendment Act Features<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Creation of NJAC: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The amendment created a new body called the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) to recommend the appointment of judges.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Change in Appointment Process:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It changed the system of appointing judges to the Supreme Court of India and High Courts of India, making appointments based on the recommendation of the NJAC.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Composition of the Commission:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The NJAC consisted of six members: the Chief Justice of India, two senior Supreme Court judges, the Union Law Minister, and two eminent persons chosen by a committee.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Role in Judicial Transfers:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The commission was also responsible for recommending the transfer of judges and Chief Justices between different High Courts.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Focus on Merit and Integrity:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The NJAC was expected to ensure that only persons with ability, merit, and integrity were recommended for judicial appointments.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Power of Parliament to Regulate Procedure:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Parliament was given the power to make laws to regulate the procedure for judicial appointments and the functioning of the NJAC.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Amendments in Various Constitutional Articles:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Several provisions of the Constitution of India were amended to replace the earlier consultation process with the recommendation of the NJAC.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>99th Constitutional Amendment Act Constitutionality<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In <\/span><b>2015,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the Supreme Court of India examined the validity of the <\/span><b>99th Constitutional Amendment Act<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of India and the <\/span><b>National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the case of <\/span><b>Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association v. Union of India.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Court declared <\/span><b>both laws unconstitutional and void.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It held that the amendment affected the <\/span><b>independence of the judiciary,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which is an essential part of the <\/span><b>Basic Structure Doctrine.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Court observed that the <\/span><b>National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> reduced the role and importance of the Chief Justice of India and senior judges in judicial appointments. <\/span><b>The inclusion of the Law Minister and two eminent persons<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the commission could allow political influence in the appointment of judges.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another concern was that any <\/span><b>two members of the NJAC<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> could veto a recommendation, which might override the opinion of the judges. The Court also pointed out that the<\/span><b> method of selecting the \u201ceminent persons\u201d<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was not clearly defined.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Therefore, by a<\/span><b> 4:1 majority judgment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the Supreme Court of India struck down the amendment and <\/span><b>restored the Collegium System for the appointment of judges.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>99th Constitutional Amendment Act Case Law<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In<\/span><b> Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association v. Union of India (2015)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the Supreme Court of India declared the <\/span><b>99th Constitutional Amendment Act of India<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014 unconstitutional by a 4:1 majority.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Court held that the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) violated the <\/span><b>Basic Structure Doctrine,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> especially the principle of judicial independence. As a result, the Court struck down the NJAC and restored the Collegium System for the appointment of judges.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Read About 99th Constitutional Amendment Act created NJAC to replace the Collegium System for judicial appointments, but the Supreme Court struck it down in 2015.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":92049,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[786],"tags":[5975,5484,5485],"class_list":{"0":"post-91997","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general-studies","8":"tag-99th-constitutional-amendment-act","9":"tag-polity","10":"tag-polity-notes","11":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91997"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92031,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91997\/revisions\/92031"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}