Senior lawyer Arvind Datar, the amicus curiae for a Public Interest Litigation seeking streamlining of appointments to the lower judiciary, has proposed a common test for prospective judges.
In his concept note to the Supreme Court, Datar clarified that the District Judges Recruitment Examination is not the same as the proposed All India Judicial Service, which would enable the central government to appointment judges across the country. The judicial service was originally proposed by the Law Commission of India back in 1969, and after taking over as prime minister in 2014, Narendra Modi sought the opposition’s support to make it a reality. The proposal did not take off, however, because states saw the Centre-controlled service as an assault on the country’s federal structure.
The recruitment exam, on the other hand, will only serve to assess merit without altering the service conditions that state governments impose as per local needs, Datar said.
Testing times
In April, the Supreme Court converted into a Public Interest Litigation a letter by the Union law ministry proposing a common exam for appointments to the subordinate judiciary. It later appointed Datar to help figure out the modalities of such a test.
In his note, Datar said the exam proposed by him will not impinge upon the powers of the High Courts, which oversee appointments to the subordinate judiciary in their respective states. The exam will only ensure that there is a common syllabus and a streamlined way of identifying the best talent.
Currently, Datar pointed out, tests for such posts are held in an ad hoc manner and many vacancies go unfilled because proper talent is not identified. Currently, there are at least 4,800 positions vacant in the subordinate judiciary.
The proposed exam, the note stated, “will neither recruit nor appoint candidates as district judges. It will merely present a pool of candidates from which judges can be recruited.”
The exam will not alter the states’ recruitment rules. In fact, only candidates who fulfil their respective states’ criteria will be considered. What is more, the candidates will be tested for knowledge of local laws, culture and languages in a separate paper carrying 100 of the total 600 marks for four papers. This paper aside, Datar has proposed that the exam be conducted in English. Currently, such examinations are conducted in regional languages.
The rationale for conducting the bulk of the exam in English is to select district judges who are proficient enough in English to be elevated to High Courts and, eventually, to the Supreme Court.
Based on the candidates’ scores, a cumulative central and state ranking will be drawn up. Datar has proposed an interview process after the test, with at least five candidates interviewed for every vacancy.
A Central Selection Committee is proposed to oversee the exam. It will have five members, appointed by the Chief Justice of India and representing all regions of the country.