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UPSC 2017 GS-II · 10 marks · 150 words

Critically examine the Supreme Court’s judgement on ‘National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014’ with reference to appointment of judges of higher judiciary in India.

What “Critically examine” demands

examine both sides AND arrive at a reasoned judgement; the criticism must be substantive, not a token final paragraph.

The characteristic failure: balanced description that never commits to a view.

What a top answer must contain

These are the checkable specifics from the marking standard for this question — the actual case, committee, datum or thinker, not an instruction to “give examples”.

  • The 99th Constitutional Amendment and the NJAC Act 2014 struck down 4:1 in Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association v. Union of India (2015)
  • Ratio: judicial primacy in appointments is part of the basic structure; the veto for two eminent persons and the Law Minister's presence compromised independence
  • Justice Chelameswar's dissent — the collegium's opacity is itself a threat to independence
  • Background: the First, Second and Third Judges Cases (1981, 1993, 1998) creating the collegium; Articles 124 and 217 say 'consultation'
  • Aftermath a strong answer reaches: the Memorandum of Procedure deadlock, judicial vacancies, and the revival of the debate in 2023

The band thresholds and the pre-scored sample answers behind this standard stay private — they are the calibration your copy is placed against.

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