Government bats for All India Judicial Service

A "properly framed" All India Judicial Service (AIJS) on the lines of other all-India services such as IAS and IPS is important to strengthen the overall justice delivery system, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

The service will give an opportunity for induction of suitably qualified fresh legal talent selected through a proper all-India merit selection system as well as address the issue of social inclusion by enabling suitable representation to marginalised and deprived sections of the society, he said in a written reply.

A comprehensive proposal was formulated for the constitution of AIJS and the same was approved by a Committee of Secretaries in November 2012. The proposal was included as an agenda item in the conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of the High Courts held in April 2013, he noted.


He said it was decided that the issue needs further deliberation and consideration. The views of the state governments and the high courts were sought on the proposal.

"There was a divergence of opinion among the state governments and among the high courts on the constitution of All India Judicial Service. While some state governments and high courts favoured the proposal, some were not in favour of the creation of AIJS, while some others wanted changes in the proposal formulated by the central government," he observed.

The proposal to constitute AIJS with views from the high courts and state governments received thereon was included in the agenda for the Chief Justices conference held in April 2015, he recalled.

"However, no progress was made on the subject and it was decided to leave it open to the respective high court to evolve appropriate methods within the existing system to fill up vacancies for the appointment of district judges expeditiously ... the government is engaged in a consultative process with the stakeholders to arrive at a common ground," he said.