Appointment of Judges in the Higher Judiciary

Appointment of Judges in the higher judiciary is based on the Supreme Court Judgement dated 6th October, 1993 in the case of Supreme Court Advocates on Record and ors. vs. Union of India and ors. and their Advisory Opinion dated 28th October, 1998. Giving this information in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Shri Salman Khurshid, Minister of Law & Justice, said that representations have been received from various quarters to review/ change the existing procedure of appointment of Judges. But there is no proposal to change the existing system. Appointment of Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts are made under Articles 124 and 217 of the Constitution of India respectively. Shri Khurshid said that there is no proposal to constitute a National Judicial Commission.

The Minister also informed the House that the Government has been requesting Chief Justices of High Courts that due representation to persons of SC/ST category may be kept in view while recommending names for appointment as Judges of High Courts.