District Judiciary Should Not Be Called 'Subordinate Judiciary' : Supreme Court

In today's judgement concerning enhanced pay scale for judicial officers as per the Second National Judicial Pay Commission (SNJPC), the Supreme Court, while highlighting the importance of district judiciary, remarked that the Supreme Court shall no longer refer to the District Judiciary as ‘subordinate judiciary’.

The judgement in this case All India Judges Association vs Union of India and others was delivered by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice V Ramasubramanian and PS Narasimha. The judgment authored by Justice Narasimha stated at the beginnning :

"No longer should this Court refer to the District Judiciary as ‘subordinate judiciary. Not only is this a misnomer because the District Judge is not per se subordinate to any other person in the exercise of her jurisdiction but also is disrespectful to the constitutional position of a District Judge. Our Constitution recognizes and protects a District Judge as a vital cog in the judicial system. Respect ought to be accorded to this institution and its contribution to the country."

Through the judgement, the court also states that District Judiciary is "the backbone of the judicial system" and its independence is vital to the judicial system. The judgement adds–

"To secure their impartiality, it is important to ensure their financial security and economic independence."

The court further remarked that the essential function of both the District Court as well as the High Court was the same, that is, to administer justice impartially and independently. In this context, it highlighted a portion of its review order through which the court dismissed a review petition against its order directing for implementation of the enhanced pay scale for judicial officers as per the recommendation of the SNJPC. The relevant portion read–

"All Judges across the hierarchy of courts discharge the same essential function of adjudicating disputes impartially and independently"

Highlighting the same, the court added that the Courts together constituted the unified judicial system performing for the core and essential function of administering justice. Thus, to be truly unified both in form and in substance, there must be integration in terms of pay, pension and other service conditions between the District Judiciary, the High Courts, and the Supreme Court.

Just last year, CJI DY Chandrachud, while speaking at a felicitation function organized by the Supreme Court Bar Association had spoken about the need to change the feeling of "subordination" among the district judges. He had stated  that the judges of the higher courts must change their mindset in seeing the district judiciary as "subordinate" judiciary. The Chief Justice had remarked–

"I think we have fostered a culture of subordination. We call our district judiciary as subordinate judiciary. I make a conscious effort not to call district judges as subordinate judges. Because they are not subordinates. They belong to district judiciary."

Other reports about the judgment can be read here.

Case Title: All India Judges Association v. UoI And Ors. WP(C) No. 643/2015

Citation : 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 452

Click Here To Read/Download Judgment