No direct recruitment of judicial officers as district judges : SC
New Delhi, February 20, 2020 : Supreme Court has ruled that members of subordinate judiciary services were not eligible to be appointed as district judges by way of direct recruitment.
Three member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Arun Mishra gave this ruling. Justice Vineet Sharan and Justice S Ravinder Bhat were other members of the bench. It said that rules debar judicial officers from staking their claim as against post reserved for direct recruitment from bar are not ultra vires as rules are subservient to the provisions of the constitution. It said that the members in the judicial service of a state can be appointed as district judges only by way of promotion or limited competitive examination.
The court said that Under Article 232(2), an Advocate or a pleader with 7 years of practice can be appointed as district judge by way of direct recruitment in case he is not already in the judicial service of the Union or a state. It also said that for the purpose of Article 233(2), an Advocate has to be continuing in practice for not less than 7 years as on the cutoff date and at the time of appointment as district judge. Members of judicial service having 7 years’ experience of practice before they have joined the service or having combined experience of 7 years as lawyer and member of judiciary are not eligible to apply for direct recruitment as a District Judge.