Merit and experience will hold the key to elevation to the bench...

Merit and experience will continue to be the sole criterion for selection of judges to the High Courts and the Supreme Court. The Centre has no immediate plan to bring in reservation for backward classes in the higher judiciary, law minister Veerappa Moily said on Wednesday.

The entry level in judiciary -- appointment of judges to subordinate courts -- already had reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs and there was no proposal to bring in quota system in the selection of judges for HCs and the SC.

"Frankly speaking, we have not applied our mind to this issue (reservation in higher judiciary). There is no immediate plan to bring in quota. It is a policy decision and the government has not applied its mind on this issue," he said.

Moily is the first law minister in decades to make a statement that "judiciary alone cannot be blamed for the monster of pendency" and lay the blame at the government's door for clogging the wheels of justice by resorting to unnecessary litigation, which entails harassment of people.

"We have to take steps and drastically reduce government litigation. Even when there is no need to approach a higher court, appeals are filed. Someone has to be made accountable for taking a decision to file needless appeals," Moily said, adding, "As government, we should be doing justice and not leave it to the courts."

He is very serious about it and is shortly going to take up this issue -- making officials accountable for deciding to file appeals -- with all ministries and the state governments.

This means, babus who till now used to mechanically file appeals in higher courts whenever a decision went against the government could be asked to answer -- why the judgment was not accepted and the need for filing an appeal in the higher court.

"Why should people rush to judiciary when it is the government which should be granting relief to people," Moily said and gave this example -- If the land acquisition process is followed properly and the government ensures that there is no injustice, would people rush to courts and suffer for 15 years in search of justice.