The foundation of India’s judicial system rests on district and subordinate judiciary handling the bulk of our civil and criminal justice system
File image of CJI NV Ramana. PTI
Recently, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana stressed the need to fill up vacancies, at all levels of the judiciary, on a war footing. This is one of several unequivocal stances undertaken by the CJI since his elevation, to improve judicial infrastructure in the country. For some time now, the Indian judiciary has faced two distinct but interrelated problems. The first is a massive backlog of pending cases, and the second is a large number of vacancies across all levels of the Indian judiciary.
To put things into perspective, as of July 2021, the number of all-India vacancies in the district and subordinate courts came to a little more than 5,100 vacancies (about 20 per cent of the sanctioned strength). This is not a new occurrence. Not long ago in 2017, the situation came to an all-time high with almost 6,000 judges’ posts in the district and subordinate courts remaining vacant. In this regard, one of the longstanding issues is the creation of All-India Judicial Services (AIJS).
Importance of subordinate courts: Bulwark of Indian justice
The importance of the subordinate judiciary cannot be emphasised enough. The subordinate courts often serve as the first port of call for litigants. The importance is amply highlighted in Article 22 of the Constitution whereby the magistrate’s order is a sine qua non for detention beyond 24 hours. Further, cases of various nature are taken up at first instance by District Court to which the access is far better given they are in each district. Since not every complainant has the socio-economic wherewithal to approach the High Court in the state capital or the Supreme Court in Delhi, expedient resolution of this (wo)manpower issue becomes imperative.
Subordinate courts also suffer not only with respect to the speed of justice dispensation but also with respect to the quality of justice. Often, the higher courts sit in appeal to these subordinate and district courts. These higher courts tend to decide the case afresh because they are at times sceptical of the quality of justice delivered.
A case of high judicial vacancy
The persistence of insufficient appointments is an ‘access to justice’ issue. In 1987, the Law Commission of India recommended increasing the judge-to-population ratio to 50 judges per 10 lakh people. However, even after two decades in 2018, India only had 19 judges per 10 lakh people. More recently in 2008, the Supreme Court in Malik Mazhar Sultan vs UP Public Service Commission noted an inadequate number of judges translates to a greater workload per judge which leads to delay and denial of speedy justice. This opinion was vindicated in the 2014 report of the Law Commission of India which recommended recruiting more judges for the speedy disposal of cases. However, these have failed to materialise on the ground and there exists a high judicial vacancy.
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An important aspect of this that is often not touched upon in the conduct of the State Public Service Commissions (State PSCs) who conduct subordinate judiciary exams. These exams are conducted once in 2-3 years or sometimes even later and as a result, vacancy keeps on mounting. Additionally, given the uncertainty in judicial services exams, bright minds from prestigious NLUs (National Law Universities) do not choose judicial service as a career choice and opt for other career avenues instead.
Implement centralised countrywide judicial recruitments
Articles 233 and 234 of the Constitution deal with the appointment of the subordinate judiciary which falls within the domain of the concerned state governments and respective high courts. Vacancies in courts keep on arising periodically due to elevation, retirement, or resignation of judges. A systemic approach is therefore needed for any meaningful judicial reform. To this end, the Central government is contemplating the establishment of an All-India Judicial Service (AIJS) for the subordinate judiciary. The proposal is not a new one. The idea of a centralised judicial service was first mooted by the 14th Law Commission in its ‘Report on Reforms on Judicial Administration’.
Thereafter in 1976, the 42nd constitutional amendment amended Article 312(1) empowering Parliament to legislate for the creation of one or more All-India Services, including an AIJS, common to the Union and the States. In 1986, comprehensive guidelines for the creation of the AIJS were laid down by the Law Commission in its 116th report. In 1992, the Supreme Court in All India Judges’ Association vs Union of India directed the Centre to set up an AIJS. The move is much needed today as it will help fill vacancies for judicial officers without compromising the quality of judges.
Concluding remarks
Justice Ramana had concluded that he wanted to see that there are no pending vacancies either in the high courts, Supreme Court or the district judiciary. The CJI has shone a searching spotlight on these longstanding issues. AIJS would go a long way in fixing the talent deficit and vacancy in the district judiciary. This is most pertinent as the foundation of our judicial system rests on district and subordinate judiciary handling the bulk of our civil and criminal justice system.
The writer is a final-year student of law at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. Views expressed are personal.
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