Supreme Court relaxes 3-year practice rule for Chhattisgarh civil judge examination

The Supreme Court on Friday directed that candidates for the Chhattisgarh civil judge examination cannot be disqualified for not having three years of practice as an advocate, provided the recruitment notification was issued before the Court’s May 20 ruling which made such practice mandatory across India [Urwashi Kour & Ors v. The State of Chhattisgarh & Ors].

A Bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai with Justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria issued notice on petitions filed by aspirants challenging the eligibility condition introduced through the recruitment advertisement dated December 23, 2024.

The Court also permitted them to sit for the exam scheduled for Sunday, pending a final decision.

“By way of an ad interim order, we direct that the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission shall permit such of the petitioners, who possess the requisite qualification, excluding the one provided under Clause 3(iv)(B) of Advertisement Number 04/2024/Exam dated 23.12.2024, i.e. enrollment as an advocate under the Advocates Act, 1961,” the Court ordered. It added,

"However, we clarify that the appearance of the petitioners in the examination shall not create any equity in their favour."

The Court further held that since the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission’s advertisement had been issued and the recruitment process commenced before its judgment in All India Judges Association v. Union of India on May 20, 2025, the Commission could not insist on the newly introduced three-year practice requirement.

“It is also made clear that since the advertisement was issued and the selection process had commenced prior to the judgment of this Court dated 28.05.2025 in the matter of All India Judges Association v. Union of India, the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission shall not insist upon the requirement of three years’ experience at the Bar for the candidates,” the Court said.

The matter will be taken up next after four weeks.

The petitioners were represented by Senior Advocates Uttara Babbar and Vipin Sanghi, along with Advocates Prakhar Srivastava, Mehul Kumar Garg, Ayush P Shah, Rayana Mukherjee, Neeraj Lalwani and Apoorva Jha.

[Read Order]