Supreme Court has today declared as unconstitutional the National Judicial Appointment Commission Act, meant to replace the two-decade old collegium system of appointing judges in higher judiciary. The Apex Court rejected the plea of Centre that the petition challenging NJAC Act be referred to a larger bench.<br/><br/>Earlier, a five-judge bench headed by Justice J S Khehar had reserved its judgement on July 15 after a marathon hearing for 31 days on the issue of validity of the 99th Constitutional amendment and the NJAC Act. The petitions challenging the new legislation were filed by Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (SCAORA) and others contending that the new law on the selection and appointment of judges is unconstitutional and aimed at hurting the independence of judiciary.<br/><br/>However, the Centre had defended the introduction of the new law saying that the two-decade-old collegium system where judges appointed judges was not free from defects and got the support of the Supreme Court Bar Association. The measure was also supported by 20 state governments which ratified the NJAC Act and the constitutional amendment. One of the contentious provisions of the new law was the inclusion of two eminent persons to the NJAC which included Chief Justice of India, two senior most judges of the apex court and the Union Law Minister.<br/><br/>Law Minister Sadanand Gowda today expressed his disappointment over the supreme court judgment, which has struck down the constitutional amendment that introduced National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC). Talking to reporters, Mr Gowda said NJAC was completely supported by Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha and it had 100 per cent support of the people.<br/><br/>Mr Gowda said both the houses of Parliament have passed the bill without any opposition. He said that the will of people have been brought to the notice to the Apex court. The minister said, the government is looking into judgment and will response after consulting with the Prime Minister and other senior law officers.<br/><br/>Congress today said it respects the Supreme court judgement and said independence of judiciary is the key factor in the democracy and that can never be compromised. Talking to reporters in New Delhi, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said in the existing collegium system there is dearth of accountability , transparency and fixation of responsibility.<br/><br/>He also said elaborate reforms are required in the judiciary. Mr Surjewala said currently there is no mechanism for addressing the nepotism and complaint of corruption in the higher judiciary.