SC on judicial recruitment

The Supreme Court has reserved judgement in a case that will have a deep impact on judicial recruitment and decide on whether greater flexibility should be exercised in appointing district judges instead of the strict compartmentalisation that exists currently.

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A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice BR Gavai, was presiding over a case on whether serving judicial officers can apply for district judge positions reserved exclusively for lawyers. The bench, also comprising Justices MM Sundresh, Aravind Kumar, SC Sharma and K Vinod Chandran, went into the scope of Article 233 (2) of the Constitution, which concerns direct recruitment of district judges from the Bar. According to the article, “A person not already in the service of the Union or of the State shall only be eligible to be appointed a district judge if he has been for not less than seven years an advocate or a pleader and is recommended by the High Court for appointment.”