Law minister stresses judicial service to recruit judges

New Delhi, July 17 (IANS) Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, here on Wednesday, the time had come for an all-India judicial service to recruit judges for the subordinate courts on the basis of merit and preferably from the backward classes, enabling them the due access in the judiciary.

Prasad was speaking at the inauguration of the new building complex of the Supreme Court. He pointed out that inauguration of building was taking place when the Supreme Court was working in its full strength.

He said perhaps time had come that recruitment of judges in subordinate courts must be done on the national level.

Prasad said the cabinet on Wednesday decided to repeal 58 more archaic laws. Over 1,500 such laws had already been repealed under the NDA government, he added.

Stating that adequate infrastructure is precondition for access to justice, Prasad said the government was committed to it and pointed to development of infrastructure for the judiciary through centrally-sponsored schemes.

President Ram Nath Kovind, who inaugurated the building, pointed to vacancies of judges in different courts. The efficiency and responsiveness of the judicial system was dependent on both quality and quantity, he said.

"While the quality of judges and independence of the judiciary are recognised around the world, the problem of numbers and vacancies has arisen from time to time," Kovind said.

Expressing happiness over filling of all vacancies in the Supreme Court by able judges, he said, "It has happened after a decade." He also congratulated the collegium and the government for this achievement.

He reiterated his wish to see constitutional judgements in major regional languages while receiving a copy of translations of 100 Supreme Court judgements in various regional languages.