NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that it will consider a plea to revive the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) to replace the current collegium system for appointment of judges in the higher judiciary.

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant made the remarks after an oral request for the NJAC was made by advocate Mathews Nedumpara during the hearing. The Supreme Court in 2015 had rejected the NJAC Act and the 99th Constitutional amendment, which sought to give politicians and civil society a final say in the appointment of judges to the higher courts.

The counsel urged the court to reconsider the collegium system and reopen the NJAC judgment, adding that previous benches did not consider his submissions adequately. To that, the CJI said, “Yes we will see.” The bench was joined by foreign judges.

The counsel added that the other benches did not consider the request. The CJI then said in Hindi, “Ab hum Hindi mein jawab denge ..jaan boojhkar yeh kar rahe ho tum ..hum Hindi me baat karenge (Now I’ll answer in Hindi… you’re doing this deliberately. We will speak in Hindi.)” The counsel, however, said he did not understand Hindi. To that, the CJI added, “We will consider the plea.”