A Parliamentary committee has recommended reservation for Supreme Court and High Court judges, contending that such a move would be within the provisions of the Constitution. The report calls for quota for SCs, STs and OBCs in the higher judiciary “to meet the ends of social justice and equity”.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice says in its report tabled today that when candidates drawn from different strata of society are appointed as judges, they would understand the social flavour of the legislation passed by the Parliament and state legislatures.

“Judges who have no link with the social milieu or the living conditions of the neglected sections of the society... very often set aside the legislation passed by he Parliament and Legislature,” the report said.

The report says that judges from backward sections “would properly interpret” legislation with a “social angle”.

“Judiciary cannot be an exception. Reservation principle should be inclusive of Judiciary,” it says. “Such a coveted institution (the Supreme Court and the high courts) should also exhibit the reality of the social milieu in which the judiciary has been created. It cannot live in isolation... and remain outside the ambit of constitutional provisions.”

Although the committee headed by E M Sudarsana Natchiappan noted that provisions of Articles 124 and 217 of Constitution under which Judges are appointed, “do not make any specific provisions for reservation for any caste or class of persons,” it asks why the Indian judiciary has kept the “competent” persons from downtrodden communities from the purview of judges’ appointment.