No more interim orders permitting persons in judicial service to be appointed District Judges against Bar quota, Supreme Court

The Supreme Court will not pass any more interim orders to permit persons in judicial service to be directly appointed as District judge based on his/her experience at the Bar and without having to go through ‘promotions through the rank’..A Bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Navin Sinha held that it is not inclined to pass any further interim orders either permitting in-service candidates to stake their claims in the examination or for being appointed against the quota reserved for Bar..“We are of the considered opinion that we cannot direct any more appointment by way of interim orders of Civil Judges as against posts meant for practicing advocates or allow the judiciary members to participate in such examination.”.However, the Court also made it clear that it will not disturb the appointments already made by virtue of earlier interim orders..“We make it clear that we are not disturbing the appointments which have been made so far by virtue of such interim orders.”.Further, in the case of practicing advocates who have been found selected for appointment, their result can be declared and they can be appointed subject to the outcome of the case before Supreme Court, the Bench clarified..The case involves interpretation of Article 233 (2) of the Constitution of India and raises an important question of law:.Whether Article 233 (2) of the Constitution of India debars persons already in judicial service for appointment as district judges by way of direct recruitment and not promotion..The petitioners have sought appointment as District Judge on the ground that they fulfil the criteria of seven years’ experience prescribed by Article 233 of the Constitution of India..The contention of the petitioners is that as per the decision in Rameshwar Dayal’s case, for a person to be appointed as a District Judge from the Bar, he need not be an advocate ‘in presenti’. He can even be a judge provided he has practiced as a lawyer for seven years. That the person joined the lower judiciary as a judge cannot be a bar on his/ her appointment as District Judge by way of direct appointment under the Bar quota, the petitioners have contended..The Court had issued notice in a slew of SLPs and writ petitions raising this issue. Subsequently, the Court had granted relief to many petitioners by way of interim orders allowing in-service candidates to participate in the examination by staking claim against the quota meant for members of the Bar..When the matter was heard on May 10, the Court made some pertinent observations on the issue. It said that final relief cannot be granted by way of interim measure. When direct recruitment has to be from the Bar, the Court cannot continue to grant interim order of final nature leaving the situation virtually irreversible. Such relief to an in-service candidate would result in an incumbent from the Bar being deprived of the post reserved for the Bar..Since the entitlement of Civil Judges to occupy posts of Bar quota is yet to be decided by hearing the matter finally, in case such interim orders are continued to be granted and the Civil Judges from the judiciary are permitted to be appointed as against the quota which is basically meant for practicing lawyers, serious prejudice may be caused to the Bar incumbents..Further, serious complications would arise in case ultimately in-service candidates are not found eligible for such quota, the Court noted..The Court, therefore, ordered that it will not pass any further interim orders in the case..Stating that the matter is of an urgent nature, the Court also requested the Chief Justice of India to place it before an appropriate Bench for early hearing..[Read Order].Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.

No more interim orders permitting persons in judicial service to be appointed District Judges against Bar quota, Supreme Court

Shruti Mahajan

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