by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
A piquant situation has arisen following the Supreme Court of India turning down the government's move to have a say in the appointment of judges, rather than leaving it to a "collegium" of judges, something unique for India. It may not turn into a crisis straightaway, as there is little the executive can do in retaliation, its hands being tied by the Constitution and its doctrine of "separation of powers". But it will no doubt lead judges and politicians one step further down the warpath. It will no doubt cause bad blood that may have cascading effect in the future on growing unpredictability of court decisions on contentious governance issues, or a tendency of the court to cross the limit in interfering with executive matters. But, more than creating roadblocks for the administration, the dismissal of the government's case on NJAC points at a glaring structural defect that successive governments have failed to fix, last week's adverse judgment being the latest.
