The controversial Sachar Panel created by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and criticized by many for its divisive charter of counting the presence of Muslims in different arms of the Government, has apparently started targeting the Judiciary. The commission has directed Registrar Generals of High Courts to query district and sessions judges to determine the number of Muslims at each level of the judiciary, including employees and judges but leaving High Court and Supreme Court judges out of the purview. A major departure in this directive is that it has sought to collect data on scheduled castes, tribes and other backward castes in addition to the numbers of Hindus and Muslims.
The new survey will covered includes Advocate Generals of the High Courts, employees of the High Courts, district and session judges, additional district and session judges, chief judicial magistrates, principal judges, munsif magistrates, sub-judges, civil court judges, and public prosecutors.
It is not clear why Justice Sachar is leaving out judges of High Courts and the Supreme Court or why he is including information on castes in his survey.
