Breaking:Supreme Court initiates suo-moto PIL on Central selection mechanism for subordinate judiciary

In a surprising step, the Supreme Court has registered a suo-moto Public Interest Litigation petition concerning a central selection mechanism for subordinate judiciary..The matter is listed today at 3.45 pm before a Bench comprising Chief Justice of India, JS Khehar and Justices AK Goel and AM Khanwilkar..While details of how the Court would go about this suo-moto PIL remains to be seen, the step comes at a time when the demand for All India Judicial Services has been gaining momentum in the last few years..In October 2016, the Centre had pitched the idea of having a common entrance exam for subordinate judiciary. The subject was once again discussed by the Law Ministry in a meeting in January 2017..The Law Commission itself had recommended the formation of AIJS in its 116th Report released back in 1986. In fact, the Supreme Court had, in 1992, ruled that the recommendations of the Law Commission “be examined expeditiously and implemented as early as possible” by the Centre..More recently, in a PIL filed in the Delhi High Court by Ashwini Upadhyay, it came to light that the Centre and the judiciary has been in a deadlock over the issue. The Law Ministry’s response in the PIL stated that no progress has been made since the topic was discussed at the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of the High Court held in April 2015..The reply also stated that some states and high courts were not in favour of the AIJS altogether, while others recommended changes to the Centre’s proposal..With the registration of the PIL by Supreme Court, the matter has once again been revived.