(b) once the inquiry committee is constituted to enquire into the charges against a judge, he shall not discharge any judicial function (8) every person appointed to be judge of the supreme court shall, before he enters upon his office, make and subscribe before the president, or some person appointed in that behalf by him, an oath or affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose in the third schedule (9) no person who has held office as a judge of the supreme court shall plead or act in any court or before any authority within the territory of india he shall not be appointed to any office of profit, including a commission of inquiry by the government at the centre or state, except on the recommendation of the national 10 judicial commission" amendment of 4 in article 126 of the constitution,—for the words, "as the president may appoint article 126 for the purpose"', the words "as the president may appoint on the recommendation of the national judicial commission"' shall be substituted substitution of 5 for article 217 of the constitution, the following article shall be substituted, 15 article 217 namely:— appointment and conditions "217 (/) every judge of the high court shall be appointed by the president by warrant under his hand and seal on the recommendation of the national judicial commission and shall hold office until he attains the age of 62 years the chief 20 justice of a high court shall always be appointed by seniority from amongst the of the office ofa judge of a high court sitting judges of that high court, unless the national judicial commission unanimously recommends otherwise the president shall be bound by the advice of the national judicial commission (2) the national judicial commission shall not make its recommendation to 25 the president until at least two weeks after the name of the proposed appointee has been duly notified to the public in the press by the national judicial commission (3) a judge may, by writing under his hand addressed to the president, resign his office; 30 (4) if any dispute arises about the age of a judge of the high court, it shall be determined by the national judicial commission whose decision shall be final (5) a person shall not be qualified for appointment as a judge of the high court unless he— , (a) is a citizen of india; (by has held for at least 10 years a judicial office in the territory of india; or 35 (c) has been for at least 10 years an advocate of a high court or of two or more high courts in succession; or (d) ts, in the opinion of the national judicial commission, a distinguished jurist 40 (6) (a) a judge shall not be removed from his office except by an order of the president passed on the recommendation of the national judicial commission which shall be binding on the president (b) the national judicial commission a judge of the high court shall be removed from his office on the recommendation of only on the finding of misbe- 45haviour or incapacity arrived at after an inquiry committee of 3 retired judges of the supreme court or high court constituted by the national judicial commission to inquire into charges of misbehaviour or incapacity against the judge the rules of procedure for framing the charges, constituting the inquiry committee and for the inquiry shall be framed by the national judicial commission" subsntution of article 220 6 for article 220 of the constitution the following article shall be substituted namely:— "220 no person who, after the commencement of-this constitution has held office as a judge of a high court shall plead or act in any court or before any | restriction    | on    ||----------------|-------|| practice       | after || being          | a     |5 authority; in india except the supreme court and the other high courts he shall nent judge not be appointed to any office of profit, including a commission of inquiry by the government, except on the recommendation of the national judicial commission amendment of 7 in article 222, for clause (1) the following clause shall be substituted, namely: - article 222"(1) a judge of a high court may be transferred from one high court to 10 another high court by the president on the recommendation of the national judicial commission which shall be binding on the president"  statement of objects and reasonsa competent, independent and impartial judiciary is vital for sustaining the constitutional democratic system of governance our constitution makers did try to ensure independence of higher judiciary to enable it to work impartialy without fear or favour however, experience has shown that the system of appointment, promotion, transfer of judges in the higher judiciary and their removal for misconduct is deficient, inadequate and lacks transparency inordinate delays in appointment of judges and very often selection of inappropriate persons has contributed to long delays in the decision of cases to the detriment of the litigant public complaints are also heard about the competence and integrity of judges manning the higher judiciary further the procedure for removal of judges for their misconduct is cumbersome, impractical and ineffective and fails to ensure their accountability it is, therefore, not surprising that the system has given rise to wide spread public perception that there is decline in the quality of the higher judiciary in the country besides perceptible decline in the quality of administration of justice such a public perception is bound to eat into the vitals of the constitutional system of governance as a remedial measure it is necessary to set up a high powered multimember national judicial commission entrusted with the task of-— (i) selecting capable persons of proven integrity, honesty and impartiality for appointment in the higher judiciary; (ii) ensuring elimination of inordinate delays in selection and appointment of judges; (iii) ensuring transparency in promotion and transfer of judges; and (iv) ensuring effective removal of errant judges for their misconduct for achieving the aforesaid objectives an amendment to the constitution is required hence this bill s ramachandran pillai  financial memorandumclause 2 of the bill provides for the establishment of a national judicial commission the bill, if enacted will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a sum of rs three crores may involve as recurring expenditure per annum a sum of rs ten crores may also be involved as non recurring expenditure ; annexure extract from constitution of indiaestablishment 124, (/) there shall be a supreme court of india consisting of a chief justice of and constitution india and, until parliament by law prescribes a larger number, of not more than seven of court supreme other judges (2) every judge of the supreme court shall be appointed by the president by warrant under his hand and seal after consultation with such of the judges of the supreme court and of the high courts in the states as the president may deem necessary for the purpose and shall hold office until he attains the age of sixty-five years: provided that in the case of appointment of a judge other than the chief justice, the chief jusuce of india shall always be consulted: provided further that— (a) a judge may, by writing under his hand addressed to the president, resign his office; (b) a judge may be removed from his office in the manner provided in clause (4) [((2a) the age of a judge of the supreme court shall be determind by such authority and in such manner as parliament may by law provide] (3) a person shail not be qualified for appointment as a judge of the supreme court unless he is a citizen of india and— (a) has been for at least five years a judge of the high court or of two or more such courts in sucession; or (b) has been for at least ten years an advocate of a high court or of two or more such courts in succession; or (c) is, in the opinion of the president, a distinguished jurist explanation i—lin this clause "high court'? means a high court which exercises, or which at any time before the commencement of this constitution exercised, jurisdiction in any part of the territory of india explanation i]—in computing for the purpose of this clause the period during which a person has been an advocate, any period during which a person has held judicial office not inferior to that of a district judge after he became an advocate shall be included (4) a judge of the supreme court shall not be removed from his office except by an order of the president passed after an address by each house of parliament supported by a majority of the total membership of that house and by a majority of not less than twothirds of the members of that house present and voting has been presented to the president in the same session for such rernoval on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity: (5) parliament may by law regulate the procedure for the presentation of an address and for the investigation and proof of the misbehaviour or incapacity of a judge under clause (4) (6) every person appointed to be a judge of the supreme court shall, before he enters upon his office, make and subscribe before the president, or some person appointed in that behalf by him, an oath or affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose in the third schedule(7) no person who has held office as a judge of the supreme court shall plead or act in any court or before any authority within the territory of india appointment 126 when the office of chief justice of india is vacant or when the chief justice is, of acting chief by reason of absence or otherwise, unable to perform the duties of his office, the duties of justice the office shall be performed by such one of the other judges of the court as the president may appoint for the purpose appointment and conditions 217 (1) every judge of a high court shall be appointed by the president by warrant under his hand and seal after consultation wtih the chief justice of india, the governor of of the office of the state, and, in the case of appointment of a judge other than the chief justice, the chief justice of the high court, in and [shall hold office, in the case of an additional or a judge of a high court acting judge, as provided in article 224, and in any other case, until he attains the age of {sixty-two years]]: provided that— (a) a judge may, by writing under his hand addressed to the president, resign his office; (b) a judge may be removed from his office by the president in the manner provided in clause (4) of article 124 for the removal of a judge of the supreme court; (c) the office of a judge shall be vacated by his being appointed by the president to be a judge of the supreme court or by his being transferred by the president to any other high court within the territory of india (2) a person shall not be qualified for appointment as a judge of a high court unless he is a citizen of india and— (a) has for at least ten years held a judicial office in the territory of india; or (b) has for at least ten years been an advocate of a high court or of two or more such courts in succession; \ explanation—for the purposes of this clause— [(a) in computing the period during which a person has held judicial office in the territory of india, there shall be included any period, after he has held any judicial office, during which the person has been an advocate of a high court or has held the office of a member of a tribunal or any post, under the union or a state, requiring special knowledge of law;] [(aa)] in computing the period during which a person has been an advocate of a high court, there shall be included any period during which the person [has held judicial office or the office of a member of a tribunal or any post, under the union or a state, requiring special knowledge of law] after he became an advocate; (b) in computing the period during which a person has held judicial office in the territory of india or been an advocate of a high court, there shall be included any period before the commencement of this constitution during which he has held judicial office in any area which was comprised before the fifteenth day of august, 1947 within india as defined by the government of india act, 1935, or has been an advocate of any high court in any such area, as the case may be [(3) if any question arises as to the age of a judge of a high court, the question shall be decided by the president after consultation with the chief justice of india and the decision of the president shall be final] [220 no person who, after the commencement of this constitution, has held office as a permanent judge of a high court shall plead or act in any court or before any restriction on practice after being a permaauthority in india except the supreme court and the other high courts nent judgeexplanation—in this article, the expression "high court" does not include a high court for a state specified in part b of the first schedule as it existed before the commencement of the constitution (seventh amendment) act, 1956] transfer of a 222 (/) the president may, after consultation with the chief justice of india, judge from one transfer a judge from one high court to any other high court high court to another {(2) when a judge has been or is so transferred, he shall, during the period he serves, after the commencement of the constitution (fifteenth amendment) act, 1963, as a judge of the other high court, be entitled to receive in addition to his salary such compensatory allowance as may be determined by parliament by law and, until so determined, such compensatory allowance as the president may by order fix]