Madhya Pradesh today supported the Central Selection Mechanism proposed by Supreme Court for appoinment in subordinate judiciary, saying the process will assist the High Courts.
Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the state government, told a bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar that in a country of a billion people, why can't the vacancies in subordinate judiciary be filled with good people.
"My understanding is that there will be a central mechanism which will assist the High Courts in appointing the right candidates for the subordinate judiciary, rather than overtaking them," Salve told the bench also comprising Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and A M Khanwilkar.
"In a country of billion, why can't we have a handfull of good people for the subordinate judiciary. Why can't the vacancy be filled at the lower courts. There is something wrong," Salve said while favouring the the proposal.
He also said there were apprehensions that High Courts are not left out and there could be a linguistic problem. The candidates selected for subordinate judiciary should have knowledge of local laws, he added.
To this, the bench said it does not want to deprive High Courts of anything, rather wants to strengthen them and whatever rules of appointment are existing as of now will remain as it is.
The apex court said there were cases of over decades old and by filling up the vacancies at subordinate judiciary level, the huge backlog of cases can be dealt with.
The hearing remained inconclusive and would continue tomorrow.
The apex court's proposal last week met with stiff opposition from West Bengal and the Calcutta High Court which claimed that the move was unconstitutional and would breach the federal structure.
The apex court had taken the proposal on its judicial side to arrive at a consensus over the mechanism for appointment in subordinate judiciary, terming it as a "service to nation" on the grounds that the delay in recruitment had led to a huge backlog of cases.
The apex court had on August 4 indicated that it was inclined to go ahead with a proposal for a centralised selection mechanism for appointment of judicial officers in the subordinate judiciary even if there was no amicable consensus among various the high courts and the states.
It had said that if the need arose it might accord a day-long hearing on the issue on August 22 to resolve the objections of various states and high courts to the proposal.
The court had tried to assuage the concern of various states and high court, saying there would be no breach and interference in the federal structure and it is "trying to do some service to the nation".
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