Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, May 16: Creating embarrassing situation for the Law Department as well as Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission, the State High Court has rejected the selection list of Court Managers on the ground that it was made in gross violation of laid down procedures and Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Judicial) Rules.
Highly placed sources in the Civil Secretariat told EXCELSIOR that the High Court in a formal communication to the Law Department has mentioned that two-judges committee constituted by the Chief Justice, M M Kumar to look into the procedure adopted by the Public Service Commission for making selection for the posts of Court Managers has found that selection was made in gross violation of Clause-II of Rule 10 of Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Judicial) Rules, 1967.
“As the laid down procedure has not been followed by the Public Service Commission, the selection list is rejected. However, the Law Department may ask the PSC to conduct interviews afresh by formally approaching the Chief Justice with the request to moninate a Judge as an expert in the interviews”, sources said while disclosing that this procedure has been followed in each and every State of the country where Court Managers have been appointed.
How the State of Jammu and Kashmir can have its own procedure while making selection of Court Managers? What was the compulsion behind not seeking assistance of expert (Judge of the High Court) in the interviews despite having clear guidelines in this regard? asked sources, adding “the High Court has also conveyed to the Law Department that it is the job of the High Court to see which candidates would be suitable for the post of Court Managers as afterall they would be having under the direct control of judiciary”.
About the necessity of appointment of Court Managers, sources said, “with a view to enhance the efficiency of court management and resultant improvement in case disposal, the 13th Finance Commission had recommended employment of professionally qualified Court Managers to assist Judges. The recommendation was made on the ground that Court Managers, with MBA degrees, would support the Judges to perform administrative duties thereby enabling the Judges to devote more time to their judicial functions”.
Acting on the recommendations of 13th Finance Commission, the Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs created 24 posts of Court Managers-one each for 22 districts to assist the Principal District and Sessions Judges and one each for Jammu and Srinagar Wings of the High Court early last year. Accordingly, the posts were referred to the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission to fill up the same.
The PSC vide Notification No.03-PSC of 2012 dated February 24, 2012 advertised 24 posts of Court Managers. Thereafter, the interviews of the short listed candidates were conducted and on the basis of performance in the interviews coupled with the weight-age in respect of academic merit and other related parameters, the selection was made. Accordingly, the list was forwarded to the High Court for issuance of appointment orders.
“However, the High Court observed that the selection of the Court Managers was not made strictly in accordance with the laid down norms and sent the list back to the Public Service Commission”, sources said, adding “later the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Department forwarded the reply of the Public Service Commission to the High Court mentioning that since these are the managerial posts no expert from the High Court was required. The PSC even mentioned that experts from different parts of the country were invited to conduct interviews as such there was no illegality”.
After going through the reply of the PSC, Chief Justice of State High Court constituted two judges committee to have detailed appraisal of the entire exercise conducted by PSC and the committee has finally rejected the selection list.
According to the functions and responsibilities as suggested by the Department of Justice, Union Ministry of Law and Justice, in consultation with the National Judicial Academy, the Court Managers are required to establish the performance standards applicable to the courts based on directives of superior courts, prepare and update annually a five-year court wise Court Development Plan (CDP), monitor the implementation of the CDP and report to the superior authorities on progress and ensure that statistics on all aspects of the functioning of the Court are compiled and reported accurately and promptly in accordance with systems established by the High Court.
They are also required to ensure that the processes and procedures of the court (including for filing, scheduling, conduct of adjudication, access to information and documents and grievance redressal) are fully compliant with the policies and standards established by the High Court for court management.
They have also been given the responsibility to ensure that the case management systems address the legitimate needs of each individual litigant in terms of quality, efficiency and timeliness, costs to litigants and to the State. As far as quality management is concerned, the Court Managers have to ensure that the courts meet quality of adjudication standards established by the High Court.
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