Ex-CJI advocates for national system to hire judges, fill vacancies

Former CJI DY Chandrachud advocates for All-India Judicial Service that would include a common national exam to recruit judges similar to those conducted for IAS and IPS

Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud has reiterated the need for an All-India Judicial Service (AIJS) to streamline the recruitment of judges for the district judiciary across the country. He proposed that AIJS be modelled after the central civil services, ensuring a more efficient and merit-based selection process, while speaking at an event hosted by Odisha Television Network in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.

 

Currently, judges in India are recruited through exams conducted by state governments for lower courts, while higher court judges are appointed by the President based on recommendations from a group of senior judges known as the collegium.

 

 

The ex-CJI emphasised the pressing need to fill judicial vacancies, especially in district courts. He pointed out that the recruitment of district judges is presently managed by state governments and high courts, rather than the Supreme Court or the central government.

 

“At present, there is about a 21 per cent vacancy in the district judiciary. We must consider introducing an All-India Judicial Service, akin to central civil services, with necessary modifications. Implementing such a system is crucial for strengthening the judiciary," he said.

 

Common national exam for judge recruitment

Addressing concerns about federalism, he suggested that a common national examination for judicial recruitment would ensure that talented individuals from across the country could serve in different states.

 

“A candidate from Tamil Nadu should be able to work in Odisha, someone from Odisha should be able to serve in Meghalaya, and individuals from Maharashtra should have the opportunity to work in Jammu & Kashmir. This will help integrate India as one nation,” he explained.

 

To accommodate state-specific reservations, the former CJI proposed a merit-based selection process where the reservation policies of individual states would be applied post-examination.

 

Centre on All-India Judicial Service

Article 312 of the Indian Constitution grants the Rajya Sabha the authority to create an All-India Service. However, despite past discussions, AIJS has not been implemented due to a lack of consensus among state governments and high courts.

 

In July 2022, the then Union Minister for Law & Justice, Kiren Rijiju, informed the Rajya Sabha that there were no active proposals for AIJS. Again, in December 2022, while responding to parliamentary queries, he reiterated that the central government had no plans to introduce AIJS due to divergent views among states and the judiciary.

 

The proposal for AIJS had previously garnered support from President Droupadi Murmu. During the Constitution Day celebrations at the Supreme Court in 2023, she advocated for a judicial service examination similar to those conducted for Indian Administrative Service and Indian Police Service officers.