Supreme Court of India
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that several "brilliant candidates" who joined as civil judge (junior division), leave service only after a few years, as they don't see a prospect to become district judges even at the time of superannuation.
A constitution bench of Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and Justices M M Sundresh, Aravind Kumar, S C Sharma and K Vinod Chandran made the observation while hearing on a legal question that whether judicial officers, who completed seven years of practice as advocates prior to joining the bench, can be appointed as district judges under vacancies earmarked for the bar.
Senior advocate Jayant Bhushan represented a group of civil judges, who were denied participation in direct recruitment examinations for district judge posts. He contended that the reason why it is difficult to find good people for the appointment of civil judges is because they feel they get completely stagnated.
"I will get into the service and now for a complete 15-16 years, I will not even become a district judge," he said.
He said several judicial officers, despite completing seven years of practice as advocates before joining the subordinate judiciary, were barred from applying under the bar quota, and their petitions before various high courts were dismissed, relying on earlier judgments.
The bench orally observed that many "bright young entrants" leave the service after realising they might have to wait 15-16 years for promotion.
The bench observed, "Many brilliant candidates who join (subordinate judiciary)... leave in two years as they do not reach up to the principal district judge, they get retired. They get stagnated for years together".
The posts of Additional District Judges, who are part of the higher judicial service, are filled up through promotions of lower judicial officers. They are also filled up through direct recruitment of lawyers who have at least seven years of experience at the Bar.
The hearing is likely to continue on Wednesday.