Plea to have 50% High Court Judges from District Judiciary: Supreme Court seeks response from Central government, Delhi High Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought the response of the Union Law Ministry and the Delhi High Court on a plea to have 50 percent of High Court judges appointed from the service quota, that is, from the judicial services or the district judiciary [All India Judges Association vs Union of India and ors].A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath issued the notice on an intervention application filed on the issue by the Judicial Service Association of Delhi (JSAD). The application was filed in a plea concerning the service conditions of those on the bench in the High Courts as well as the district judiciary.The JSAD submitted that the quota for judicial officers in High Courts should be increased to 50 per cent from the current 33 per cent. The application stated that while the Constitution does not speak of any ratio/quota of High Court appointees being from the judicial service or the bar, service judges are mentioned first in Article 217(2) (appointment and conditions of the office of High Court Judge) of the Constitution. This, the applicants contended, shows that the first choice for elevation should be from the district judiciary."The framers of the Constitution have treated both equally while placing more emphasis and responsibility on persons who have held judicial offices," it was submitted. It was further argued that if more judges are appointed from the district judiciary, it will lead to better disposal of cases as well as better judgmentsGiven that lowers courts are subordinate to High Courts, service judges are tested and supervised over time. Further, information on writing skills and other credentials of such candidates are readily available, it was pointed out. It was also submitted that in case of appointees from the bar (lawyers), their conduct is a question of trial and error.However, those from a service background have anyways long been recluse from any political ideology, the applicants pointed out. .The applicant, therefore, urged the Court to issue directions to ensure that the bar-service ratios are at least maintained in the appointment of High Court Judges, and that vacancies from the service quota are filled at the earliest. The application was filed by JSAD president Rajesh Malik, and drawn by instructing counsel Sachin Jain. Senior Advocate Rakesh Khanna with advocates Sachin Jain and Ajay Kumar Agarwal appeared for the applicants.