Chennai: DMK chief slams Niti Aayog UPSC proposal

Chennai: The DMK on Friday slammed the Niti Aayog, the Centre's think-tank, for its recommendation that a pan-India exam be held by the UPSC to select cadre for the lower judiciary, alleging that the move was yet another threat to states' autonomy and aimed at usurping their Constitutional rights.

"This recommendation for usurping the rights of the state governments is the culmination of the bossism of the BJP Government that feels there is no need at all to have the state governments", tweeted DMK president M K Stalin reacting to the Niti Aayog proposal.

He called upon the AIADMK Government "in this state that fought for state autonomy to immediately condemn and oppose this kind of injustice".

Niti Aayog had on Wednesday come out with a national strategy for New India with objectives for 2022-23. "An all-India judicial services examination on a ranking basis can be considered to maintain high standards in the judiciary. The selection process may be entrusted to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for a cadre of lower judiciary judges, Indian Legal Service (both centre and states), prosecutors, legal advisors, and legal draftsmen," it said.

The report claimed that the move would attract young and bright law graduates and help build a new cadre "that can enhance accountability in the governance system".

At present, various high courts and state service commissions hold exams to recruit judicial officers.

The report also recommended the introduction of an administrative cadre in the judicial system to streamline processes. "To maintain judicial independence, the cadre should report to the Chief Justice in each High Court," it said.

Niti Aayog had also suggested introduction of a performance index for judges and a separate state-wise index for "ease of getting justice". Also, there is a need to facilitate the availability and usage of video-conferencing facilities to assist in speedy access to justice and to minimise logistical issues. "At present, even the available video-conferencing facilities are not utilized optimally," the think tank said.

The government has in the past proposed an all-India judicial service. But nine high courts out of the total 24 in the country, have opposed the proposal to have an all-India service for the lower judiciary.

Eight others have sought changes in the proposed framework and only two have supported the idea. The Narendra Modi government has given a fresh push to the long-pending proposal to set up the new service to have a separate cadre for the lower judiciary in the country.

The idea was first mooted in the 1960s. Seeking to overcome the divergence of views, the government had recently suggested to the Supreme Court various options, including an NEET-like examination to recruit judges to the lower judiciary. The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is conducted for admission to medical colleges.

There were vacancies of 4,452 judges in subordinate courts in the country as per the figures released on December 31, 2015. While the sanctioned strength is 20,502, the actual number of judges and judicial officers in subordinate courts is 16,050.