Eighteenth Amendment Act, 1966
Q1. What was the need/importance of the Eighteenth Amendment Act, of 1966?
Ans: The amendment act was needed to provide a more transparent and accountable process for appointing judges, the Comptroller and Auditor General(CAG), and the Chief Election Commissioner.
Q2. What was the controversy involved in the Eighteenth Amendment Act, of 1966?
Ans: The amendment act was challenged in the Supreme Court. The challengers claimed that this act is violating the basic structure of the Constitution. But the court upheld its validity in 2015 and dismisses the challenge.
Q3. When was the Eighteenth Amendment Act, of 1966 passed?
Ans: The amendment was passed by the Indian Parliament on 9th September 1966.
Q4. What was the defined role of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) under the Eighteenth Amendment Act, of 1966?
Ans: The National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) was established to recommend candidates for appointment as judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts of India.
Q5. Was the Eighteenth Amendment Act, of 1966 amended later?
Ans: The answer is yes. It was amended by the Ninety-Ninth(99th) Amendment Act, of 2014. And it replaced the NJAC with a new system of the way for appointing judges.
Q6. Was the Eighteenth Amendment Act, of 1966 related to any other constitutional amendment?
Ans: No, it was a fully standalone amendment to the Constitution of India and there are no similarities or relations to other constitutional amendments.
Q7. What was the composition of the National Judicial Appointments Commission(NJAC) under the Eighteenth Amendment Act, of 1966?
Ans: The NJAC consisted of the Chief Justice of India, two senior-most judges of the Supreme Court of India, the Union Minister of Laws and Justice, and two eminent and experienced persons to be nominated by a committee consisting of the Prime Minister of India, the Chief Justice of India and the Leader of the Opposition party in the Lok Sabha.
Eighteenth Amendment Act, 1966 in Indian Constitution
In the year of 1966, Indian Government amended “Article 3” of the Indian constitution, which is officially known as The Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act, 1966. The proposal is made to clarify the “State” in the clauses section from (a) to (e) present in “article 3” in the constitution, which basically includes “Union territories.” This amendment act also gave a brief explanation regarding the power to form a completely new State or Union territory by taking a part of any State or Union territory to any other State or Union territory by uniting. There is a special power conferred on Parliament by clause section(a). This act was an amendment to the Constitution of India that made some important changes in the way that a certain number of constitutional offices were appointed.