India, March 8 -- The Supreme Court on Thursday exempted former high court judges from taking a mandatory test for appointment as head of state consumer commissions and sought suggestions from the Centre on making the selection procedure for members of district and state consumer commissions "objective and fair" as it noted that removing the examination criteria could give "backdoor entry" to ineligible persons and vest "unbridled discretion" in the hands of the state.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud passed the order while considering a batch of appeals challenging a notification brought by the Centre in September 2023 making it mandatory for heads and members of state and district consumer forums ...