All India Judicial Service- Explained Pointwise

President Droupadi Murmu has called for an “All India Judicial Service” to recruit judges during her inaugural address at the Supreme Court’s Constitution Day celebration on Sunday (November 26). The president said that it will help make the judiciary diverse by increasing representation from marginalised social groups. The President’s comment has again reignited the debate on creation of All India Judicial Service (AIJS).

What is the All-India Judicial Service?

All-India Judicial Service- The creation of AIJS is a reform aimed to centralise the recruitment of judges at the level of additional district judges and district judges for all states. Like the UPSC conducts a central recruitment process for bureaucrats and assigns successful candidates to state cadres, AIJS will also centrally recruit judges and assign them to states.

Constitutional Provisions for the All-India Judicial Service
a. Article 312 of the Constitution, as amended by the 42nd Amendment, 1976, provides for the creation of an AIJS. The Rajya Sabha has to adopt a resolution, mentioning the necessity to create an All India Judicial Service in national interest, with a two-thirds majority present and voting. The parliament can then create the All India Judicial Service by passing a parliamentary law to that effect.

b. However, Article 312 (3) states that the AIJS cannot include any post inferior to that of a district judge, as defined in Article 236. A district judge can include a city civil court judge, additional district judge, joint district judge, assistant district judge, chief judge of a small cause court, chief presidency magistrate, additional chief presidency magistrate, sessions judge, additional sessions judge, and assistant sessions judge.

Current system of Recruitment of Judges in the lower Judiciary

1) Under Articles 233, district judges are appointed by the Governor of the State in consultation with the High Court exercising jurisdiction in relation to such State.

2) As per Article 234, appointments of persons other than district judges to the judicial service of a State is made by the Governor of the State in accordance with rules made by him in that behalf after consultation with the State Public Service Commission and with the High Court exercising jurisdiction in relation to such State.

A Brief Timeline of the Demand for AIJS

What is the need for All India Judicial Service?

1. Huge vacancy of judges and delay in recruitment- There are large vacancies in the posts in lower judiciary across the country and a huge pendency of about 2.78crore cases in lower judiciary. One of the primary reasons is the inordinate delay in holding regular judicial recruitment exams by the states.

2. Dearth of good quality judicial officers- The ever continuing decline in quality of selected judicial officers through the current recruitment system have delayed delivery of justice, increased pendency of cases and impaired the quality of judgments. This also has a resultant effect on the competence of higher judiciary (High Courts and Supreme Court).

3. Lack of finances with state governments- State judicial services are not attractive for ‘best talents’ due to low salaries, rewards and compensations awarded by the state governments.

4. Lack of specialized state training institutions- Adjudication is a specialization which requires state of the art training institutes and professors. State institutes lack the capacity to allow such adjudication exposure to the selected candidates.

5. Subjectivity in the recruitment process – The Current judicial appointments at the lower level and upper levels suffer from subjectivity, corruption and nepotism. Hence, there is a need to reflect the social reality and diversity of the country by establishing a neutral and impartial system of recruitment.

What are the benefits of the All India Judicial Service?

1. Attracting Fresh talent- AIJS will ensure a transparent and efficient method of recruitment to attract the best talent in India’s legal profession. A national service for judges, not inferior to the post of district judges, with a superannuation age of 60, will be an attractive proposition for young lawyers to apply for it.

2. Accountability, transparency and objectivity in recruitment process- Open competitive exam would bring accountability, transparency and objectivity in the recruitment process of judiciary by reducing discretion of selection panel.

3. Representation to deprived sections- AIJS will improve the judiciary’s representative character by drafting in trained officers from deprived sections of society, especially women and SC/STs.

4. Increasing the Judge-to-Population ratio and checking the pendency of cases- In India, there are about 19 judges per 10 lakh population, against the Law Commission’s recommendation of at least 50 per 10 lakh people. AIJS will ensure swift filling up of vacancies and ramping up of recruitment to the lower judiciary.

5. Uniformity across the country- Quality of adjudication and the dispensation of justice would attain uniformity across the country by ironing out state level differences in laws, practices and standards.

What are the objections to the creation of All-India Judicial Service?

1. Dilutes separation of power- The creation of AIJS will transfer control over state judiciary to Union government, by removing control of High Court on recruitment process. It would undermine the independence of judiciary and dilute the separation of power mandated under Article 50. 13 HCs are in disagreement with the All India Judicial Service.

2. Against India’s Federal structure- A centralised recruitment process is seen as an affront to federalism and an encroachment on the powers of states granted by the Constitution.

3. Local language problem- Courts up to District and Sessions Judge transact their business in State language. AIJS officers would find it difficult to acclimatize themselves with local language, thus hampering dispensation of justice.

4. Local laws and customs problem- AIJS does not take into account the problem of wide variation in the local laws, practices and customs across States.

5. Discriminatory for weaker sections and Possibility of elitism- Candidates from elite legal schools and large cities may benefit from the centralised recruitment. This could be discriminatory for people from less fortunate homes and smaller communities.

6. Exclusion of state minorities and backward groups- State minorities and backward groups will lose out on reservation benefits if the eservation based on a central list.

7. Restricted promotional avenues for State officers- The AIJS would limit the promotional avenues for the already selected officers through the current system.

8. Uncertainty on Career Progression- AIJS may be rendered unattractive on account of lower number of district judges elevation to the HCs as compared to the Bar.

9. Mismanaged legal education problem- Barring a few National Law Universities, the Curriculum followed by law universities lacks effective standards, which results into low quality legal research and scholars. This problem of lack of quality of good legal education will be unaddressed by AIJS.

Conclusion and Way Forward

Before the implementation of AIJS by the Parliament, there is a need to build consensus among various associated stakeholders. NITI Aayog has proposed the creation of the All India Judicial Service and has provided the following recommendations-

1. Independence- The AIJS cadre should report to the Chief Justice of every high court to maintain judicial independence.

2. Regular examination- The AIJS examinations must be held regularly and the recruitment process must be completed in a time bound manner.

3. Use of Technology- Implementing video-conferencing to expedite justice and reduce logistical issues.

The competence and quality of the lower judiciary is crucial for revitalizing the entire edifice of Indian judiciary. All India Judicial Service is the right step in this direction.