SC mandates 3-year practice to appear in Civil Judge (Junior Division) exam

New Delhi, May 20 The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that candidates must have practiced for a minimum period of 3 years to be eligible to appear in the examination for the post of Civil Judge (Junior Division).

A bench, headed by CJI B.R. Gavai, asked all the High Courts and the state governments across the country to amend the service rules to bring them in conformity with its latest judgment.

The rules will mandate that the candidate produce a certificate, duly certified either by the Principal Judicial Officer or by an advocate having a minimum standing of 10 years, added the Bench, also comprising Justices A.G. Masih and K. Vinod Chandran.

"Insofar as the candidates who are practising before the High Courts or Supreme Court, they shall be certified by an advocate who has a minimum standing of 10 years, duly endorsed by an officer designated by that High Court or Supreme Court," it said.

In its detailed judgment, the apex court clarified that the experience should be counted from the date on which provisional registration has been granted to a candidate by the state bar council.

"We are also of the view that the experience of the candidates which they have gained while working as law clerks with any of the judges or judicial officers in the country should also be considered while calculating their total number of years of practice,” the CJI Gavai-led Bench said.

The Supreme Court agreed with the views expressed by most of the High Courts that the requirement of reintroduction of a certain number of years of practice should be necessary. However, the requirement of minimum years of practice will not be applicable in cases where the selection process has already been held for the post of Civil Judge (Junior Division) prior to the date of the apex court judgment, but will apply to the next recruitment process.

"Needless to state that all such recruitment processes which have been kept in abeyance, in view of the pendency of the present proceedings, shall proceed in accordance with the Rules which were applicable on the date of advertisement/notification," the top court said.

It ordered that all the amendments in terms of its decision will be carried out by the High Courts within a period of three months, and the state governments concerned will consider and approve the same within a further period of three months.

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