No Plan As Of Now To Bring All India Judicial Service: Government

Due to divergence of opinion amongst the various stakeholders, there is no proposal "at this juncture" to bring an All-India Judicial Service to select judges of lower courts, the government said in Lok Sabha on Friday.

The government has been pushing for an all-India judicial service on the lines of IAS and IPS to select judges or judicial officers for subordinate courts.

"In view of the existing divergence of opinion amongst stakeholders, there is no such proposal of All India Judicial Service at this juncture," Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said in a written reply.

According to the government, "a properly framed" All India Judicial Service is important to strengthen the overall justice delivery system.

"This will give an opportunity for induction of suitably qualified fresh legal talent selected through a proper all-India merit selection system, as well as address the issue of social inclusion by enabling suitable representation to marginalised and deprived sections of society," the minister said.

A comprehensive proposal was formulated for the constitution of an All India Judicial Service (AIJS) and the same was approved by the Committee of Secretaries in November 2012, Mr Rijiju recalled.

The proposal was included as an agenda item in the Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of the High Courts held in April 2013, and it was decided that the issue needs further deliberation and consideration, he said.

The views of the state governments and the high courts were sought on the proposal. "There was divergence of opinion among the state governments and among the high courts on the constitution of AIJS," he said.

While some state governments and high courts favoured the proposal, some were not in favour of creation of AIJS. Some others wanted changes in the proposal formulated by the central government, he pointed out.

The matter regarding creation of a Judicial Service Commission to help the recruitment to the post of district judges and review of selection process of judges or judicial officers at all level was also included in the agenda for the Chief Justices Conference held in April 2015, where it was resolved to leave it open to respective high courts to evolve appropriate methods within the existing system to fill up vacancies for appointment of district judges expeditiously.

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