Milestone SC judgment to spur distt judiciary reform

THE JUDGMENT IS EXPECTED TO SIGNIFICANTLY BROADEN THE POOL OF ELIGIBLE CANDIDATES FOR THE STATE JUDICIARY’S SENIOR-MOST TIER

- Utkarsh Anand

In a judgment that could fundamentally alter the landscape of district judiciary recruitment across the country, a constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday held that serving judicial officers who have previously practised as advocates for seven years are eligible to apply for district judge posts under the quota reserved for the Bar, declaring that their exclusion would be “discriminatory” and detrimental to the quality of judicial service.

The court further held that to ensure a level playing field, serving judges can also apply under the Bar quota if they have at least seven years of combined experience as a judicial officer and an advocate.

A five-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Bhushan R Gavai, and comprising justices MM Sundresh, Aravind Kumar, Satish Chandra Sharma and K Vinod Chandran, unanimously ruled that interpreting Article 233(2) to bar serving judges from competing for direct recruitment would undermine both efficiency and fairness in the judiciary.