SC begins hearing on judicial seniority norms

The Supreme Court Tuesday expressed concern over the slow and uneven career progression of entry-level judicial officers across the country and began hearing a case to frame uniform, nationwide criteria for determining seniority in the Higher Judicial Service (HJS) cadre.

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A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice BR Gavai took note of the situation that “in most of the states, judicial officers recruited as Civil Judge (CJ) often do not reach the level of Principal District Judge (PDJ), leave aside reaching the position of a High Court Judge. This has resulted in many bright young lawyers being dissuaded from joining the service at the level of CJ”.

The bench, also comprising justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, K Vinod Chandran and Joymalya Bagchi, framed the question which reads: “What should be the criteria for determining seniority in the cadre of Higher Judicial Services”.

The bench also clarified that while hearing the main issue, it can also consider “other ancillary or related issues”.

The bench is also examining whether a separate quota of District Judge (DJ) posts should be earmarked for officers who entered the judicial service at the lowest rung as Civil Judges (Junior Division), in order to ensure fairer career advancement opportunities.