‘Appoint judge from Scheduled Castes’

Pointing out that there is no representation in the Supreme Court for the Scheduled Castes after the retirement of Justice K.G. Balakrishnan in 2015, the All India Association of Jurists (AIAJ) has urged Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur to consider appointing a judge from the SC community in the existing three vacancies.

In a representation sent to the CJI, the national chairman of the Chennai-based AIAJ, Mr M. Antony Selvaraj, also wanted the collegium to consider appointing Muslim and Christian judges to instil confidence in the minds of people in general and minorities in particular.

Dr Selvaraj said in the present set up, mostly the chief justices of the high courts are elevated as judges of the apex court.

The strength of judges in the Supreme Court is not directly proportionate to the number of states/high courts in the country. As a result, several states/high courts are not represented in the appointment of judges to the apex court.

On the other hand some states/high courts are over represented with two or three judges and in the case of Bombay high court it is represented by five judges.