Over a week has passed since the Supreme Court of India, in what will most commonly be described as the ‘fourth judges case’, struck down a constitutional amendment and a law enacted by Parliament seeking to reform the process of judicial appointments to the Supreme Court and High Courts. The amendment attempted to replace the judge-led ‘collegium’ system of appointments, which has been in place since 1993, with a six member National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC). By a four to one majority in a judgment of over a thousand pages, the Court struck down the amendment in its entirety. The significance of the case is exacerbated by the fact that this was only the fourth occasion since the ‘basic structure doctrine’ was announced that the Court has relied upon the doctrine to invalidate a constitutional amendment.
Debates about the judgment have taken place across three dimensions: parliamentary supremacy, judicial independence…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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