3-year practice: SC sets aside MP HC's order restraining civil judge recruitment

New Delhi, Sep 23 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside a Madhya Pradesh High Court ruling restraining recruitment for the post of civil judges without the mandatory requirement of three years of practice.

The top court directed the high court to conclude the recruitment process at the earliest.

A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Atul S Chandurkar allowed the appeal filed by Madhya Pradesh High Court challenging the ruling of its division bench.

"The impugned order dated June 13, 2024 passed by the High Court, in exercise of review jurisdiction, is liable to be set-aside on the ground that the High Court exceeded its jurisdiction while reviewing the earlier order dated May 7, 2024," the top court said.

The verdict pointed out there was no occasion to invoke review jurisdiction and direct a fresh main examination, particularly when the advertisement was issued on November 17, 2023 and the recruitment process continued till June 2024.

Advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, appearing for the high court, argued that a re-exam was "unconstitutional, impractical" and would floodgates of litigation.

The top court last year stayed the high court order.

The Madhya Pradesh Judicial Services (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1994 were amended on June 23, 2023, to make three years of practice compulsory to be eligible to appear for the civil judge entry-level test in the state.

The amended rules were upheld by the high court, but it started another round of litigation after two candidates, who were not selected, contended that they would be eligible if the amended rules were applied and demanded that the cut-off be reviewed.

While restraining recruitment to the post, the high court directed the exclusion of successful candidates in the preliminary examination who do not fulfil the eligibility criteria under the amended recruitment rules.

The top court was hearing an appeal filed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court challenging the June 13, 2024 order passed by its division bench which directed it to weed out all those successful candidates in the preliminary examination held on January 14, 2024, who did not fulfil the eligibility criteria under the amended rules.

The high court's appeal said the division bench failed to appreciate that the power to review a "well-reasoned" verdict was very limited and only open in case of an "error apparent" on the face of the record.

"Conducting of fresh main examination for specific candidates falling between earlier cut-off marks and re-computed cut-off marks in compliance of impugned order/judgment would result in a situation where there would be no level playing field," the appeal said.

An advertisement was issued on November 17, 2023, calling for applications from eligible law graduates under the amended recruitment rules.

The top court while hearing a challenge to the amended rules by way of an interim order permitted all law graduates to appear in the preliminary examination.

A high court division bench dismissed petitions challenging the amendment and upheld the Amended Recruitment Rules.

A petition was subsequently filed by Jyotsna Dohalia and Varsha Shrivastava who claimed being eligible under the Amended Recruitment Rules and having appeared in the preliminary examination but not making it to the main examination. The division bench, however, dismissed their pleas.

They subsequently filed a review plea on May 25, 2024, which was allowed and the high court restrained recruitment for the post of civil judge.

According to the amended Madhya Pradesh Judicial Service (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1994, three years of practice is a mandatory requirement to appear for judicial services examination at the civil judge level.

The amendment exempts outstanding law graduates who secure at least 70 per cent marks in the general and other backward class categories from the mandatory requirement of the three-year practice.

The division bench of the high court in its order said the cut-off marks should be re-computed upon the remaining candidates satisfying the criteria under amended recruitment rules.

"Fresh call letters be issued to all those eligible candidates under Amended Recruitment Rules who have secured more or equal marks to the re-computed cut-off marks and whose names appear for the first time between the earlier cut-off marks and recomputed cut-off marks, for inviting them to appear in the main examination," the high court said. PTI PKS PKS AMK AMK