THE TIMES OF INDIA, NEW DELHI SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 2015 17 TIMES NATION S eeking to substantiate its pitch that the collegi- um system would be back, the bench recalled the cases of constitutional provi- sions which were changed through the 39th and 42nd constitutional amendments. The old provisions came into force soon as the twin amend- ments were struck down. “Striking down an amend- ment would mean that it never existed and old system is re- vived,” the bench said. This was an emphatic riposte to the statement the AG made on May 12 when he said that the collegium system in which the judiciary conferred upon it- self the prerogative to appoint judges of SC and HCs cannot be revived even if NJAC is de- clared unconstitutional. “Even if NJAC is quashed what is dead cannot be revived. You cannot go back to the old system. There is no question of automatic revival of the old system and Parliament will sit again to re-legislate,” Rohatgi had said. He had said: “The original Article 124 has now disappeared from the Consti- tution. It is dead, buried and gone forever. It cannot be res- urrected. It won’t come to life even after this bench quashed the amendment and holds that NJAC is unconstitutional.” The examples of 39th and 42nd amendments are signif- icant as the twin changes were made by Indira Gandhi government during emer- gency to restrict the scope of judicial review. Defenders of the collegi- um system have argued that the mechanism where judges alone get to decide who can be on the benches of SC and HCs is vital for protecting judicial independence, and that the abolition of Collegium will let the executive and legislative encroach on judiciary’s turf. The 39th amendment had placed the election of the Pres- ident, the Vice President, the PM and the Speaker of the LS beyond the scrutiny of the In- dian courts. It was quashed by the court and the election proc- ess of the constitutional posts was brought under judicial re- view as was the position before the amendment. The 42nd amendment had given unfet- tered powers to Parliament to amend the Constitution. As for AG’s charge about collegium being responsible for the appointment of ineffi- cient judges, the bench said the government cannot es- cape the blame, if any, either. It emphasized that one so-called inefficient SC judge was cho- sen by the Centre for the Na- tional Human Rights Com- mission after his retirement. Rohatgi, while mention- ing the case of the judge, said the judge had disposed off less than 100 cases in his ca- reer before collegium elevat- ed him to the top court. You talked about giving due representations to differ- ent sections. One case can’t make the rule, but see after his retirement what you (government) did. You ap- pointed him in the NHRC,” the bench said. For the full report, log on to www.timesofindia.com No question of automatic revival of collegium: AG Continued from P 1 A lady doctor was allegedly molested by a contractual worker at Burdwan Medical College Hospital in West Ben- gal. Superintendent of the hospital Dr Utpal Dan said the woman, an intern, was at the doctor’s rest room at the Emergency last night when she was molested by the worker, Prasun Nayak. Kerala airport clash: CISF fired 2 more shots Kerala police on Fri- day said CISF sub in- spector Sita Ram Choudhary, whose gunshot killed his col- league on Wednesday, had fired two more rounds at fire force personnel “with the intention of harming them” immediately af- ter Yadav was felled. Nek Chand to be cremated today: Chandigarh’s Rock Garden creator Nek Chand’s body would be cremated with full state honours on Saturday. BSF forces Pak to stop border construction: BSF on Friday prevented Pakistan from constructing an observa- tion post close to the interna- tional border near Jammu. Search for CG Dornier plane enters fourth day: The search for the missing Coast Guard Dornier aircraft and its three crew members entered the fourth day on Fri- day with INS Sandhayak, a hy- drographic survey vessel, joining the operations off the Tamil Nadu coast. INDIA DIGEST Doctor molested at hospital by contract worker TIMES NEWS NETWORK New Delhi: A Madras high court judge, who had threat- ened the chief justice of the court with contempt of con- duct and whose conduct was severely criticized by the Su- preme Court, has questioned the collegium system for ap- pointment of judges saying it functions in an “autocrat- ic” manner. In a letter written to the President, the Prime Minis- ter and the Chief Justice of India, Justice C S Karnan favoured scrapping of the col- legium system by bringing NJAC. “The present Union governemnt has rightly amended the bill which re- sulted in the formation of the NJAC in order to main- tain the independency on democratic lines and render justice as it is meant to be,” Justice Karnan said in his two-page letter. Madras high court judge favours NJAC TIMES NEWS NETWORK New Delhi: Former Odisha chief minister Giridhar Ga- mang, whose controversial vote during the 1999 no-con- fidence motion had contrib- uted to the fall of Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA govern- ment after thirteen months in office, on Friday decided to join BJP. Both BJP and Gamang put the past behind and em- braced each other as the for- mer Congress member met BJP chief Amit Shah at the party headquarters. Ga- mang said he likes BJP’s “po- litical strategy”. Gamang was caught up in a controversy in Parliament on April 17, 1999, when the Vajpayee government fell as he voted despite having be- come the Odisha CM by then. Since Gamang, who was then MP from Koraput, had not re- signed from Lok Sabha even two months after becoming CM, it was left to his con- science to decide whether to vote. He voted, much against protests from BJP MPs. However, BJP tried to bury the issue saying Gamang vot- ed against the BJP-led NDA government and then he was a part of Congress. Gamang had argued that it was Nation- al Conference’s Saifuddin Soz whose cross-voting led to the NDA’s defeat. He also recalled that Mayawati’s BSP, which had five members in LS, made a last minute change in stand and instead of abstaining, vot- ed against the government. The BJP leadership is to formally welcome the 72- year-old tribal leader in Bhu- baneshwar. The party hopes Gamang’s entry will streng- then its base in Odisha. Asked why he was joining BJP, Gamang said, “I had many options but I decided to join a party where there was my acceptance.” Man responsible for Vajpayee govt’s fall set to join BJP BURYING THE PAST: Gamang The original Article 124 has disappeared from the Constitution. It is dead, buried and gone forever. It cannot be resurrected MUKUL ROHATGI Attorney General