With reference to the appointment of judges in the higher judiciary, consider the following statements: 1. The Collegium system for the appointment of Supreme Court and High Court judges is explicitly detailed in the original text of the Constitution enacted in 1950. 2. The National Judicial Appointments Commission Act was struck down by the Supreme Court as violative of the basic structure of the Constitution.

💡 Solution & Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect because the original Constitution did not contain any mention of a Collegium system; judges were appointed by the President under Article 124 in consultation with judicial authorities, and the Collegium evolved through judicial interpretations known as the Three Judges Cases. Statement 2 is correct as the Supreme Court struck down the 99th Constitutional Amendment and the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act in 2015, ruling that executive involvement undermined judicial independence.