NEW DELHI, Sept 11:
Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda has sought details from chief justices of high courts about steps initiated to bring transparency in judicial services examinations in their respective states.
Gowda’s letter was written just days before Law ministry received complaints alleging irregularities in selection of district and session judges in Delhi.
Following representations, he had requested the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court to look into allegations that kin of sitting judges of the court were favoured in the Delhi Judicial Services examinations.
There was a lack of unanimity at the conference of Chief Justices of the High Court and Chief Ministers in April on setting up the All India Judicial Services. The matter was thus left to the judiciary to bring transparency in holding judicial service exams in their respective states.
In his letter, the Law Minister has reminded them of the conference and asked them to spell out steps taken to bring in transparency in examination for appointments of judges in lower courts.
Government favours standardisation of process to select members of the lower judiciary.
The plan of establishing an all-India service for judicial officers is hanging fire since the 1960s with some states opposing the idea on various grounds.
One of the problems cited is that since several states have used powers under CrPC and CPC to declare that the local language would be used in lower courts even for writing orders, a person say selected from Tamil Nadu may find it difficult to hold proceedings in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Meanwhile, Justice G Rohini, Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, is learnt to have justified the selections for Delhi’s subordinate judiciary and said the entire process was transparent.
In a letter to Gowda, Justice Rohini said two of the 15 qualified candidates in the Delhi judicial service exam were children of two sitting judges of the Delhi High Court but they qualified “on their own” and the allegations of favouritism and nepotism have no merit.
She also said there is no ground for cancelling the selection process. (PTI)
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