Lawyers want preference in judicial appointments

The Karnataka State Bar Council has urged the acting Chief Justice of High Court, Justice S K Mukherjee, to prefer members of the bar over those of the bench in filling vacancies in the lower courts.  

At a meeting on Monday, the council passed a resolution requesting the President of India and the National Judicial Collegium of the Supreme Court to include members of the bar in their list of appointment of High Court judges. 

In a letter to Justice Mukherjee, the council requested him to consider lawyers practising in the Dharwad and Kalaburgi benches for postings in lower courts.

Dharwad and Kalaburgi are considered backward and rightly complain of underrepresentation in every sphere, including higher judiciary.  

The letter states that while selecting suitable persons as district judges, social justice and the diversity of Karnataka’s population should be kept in mind. There are eminent and intellectual lawyers who are capable of becoming High Court judges, it said. 

The letter further states that any overrepresentation of one section naturally deprives another section of its dues. Hence, it’s necessary that people from North Karnataka get their due. While sending the list of probable persons, members of the bar members should be considered first and then those of the bench.