The government today asserted that Parliament has power to govern the criteria and process for appointment of judges in the higher judiciary. This was stated by Law Minister Sadananda Gowda in a written reply in the Lok Sabh today. <br/><br/>He was asked whether the government has any plan to review the National Judicial Appointments Act, 2014 after the Supreme Court struck down the law in October this year. Mr. Gowda said after the order, the collegium system of appointment of judges has been again declared as operational. He said, the government has submitted its suggestions to improve the working of collegium system as sought by the Apex Court. <br/><br/>Mr. Gowda said the government has taken the stand that it reserves its liberty to take appropriate action and nothing in the suggestions made before the court ought to be construed as the government being stopped from such action. <br/><br/>During a discussion on commitment to the Constitution in the Rajya Sabha last week, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that no law can ever justify a situation where the CJI appoints other judges. Noting that independence of judiciary is absolutely essential, he said appointment of judges to high judiciary should be done through a consultative process.