NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has dismissed the review petition challenging the striking down of a Constitutional amendment that sought to give the executive a say in the appointment of top judges, on grounds of delay and lack of merit.
“There is a delay of 470 days in filing the present review petition, for which no satisfactory explanation has been offered. The review petition is liable to be dismissed on ground of delay alone. We do not find merit in the same,” a Constitution bench observed on 27 November after an in-chamber hearing.
The review petition was filed by National Lawyers Campaign for Judicial Transparency and Reforms. In October 2015,the Supreme Court held that both the Constitution (Ninety-ninth Amendment) Act, 2014, and the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, 2014, were unconstitutional as they would undermine the independence of the judiciary.