CJI to take call on direct recruitment to ADJ post

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the issue, whether judicial officers should be allowed to participate in direct recruitment to the post of the additional district judge, required immediate attention.

The top court directed the matter to be placed before Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra for passing appropriate orders.

A vacation bench of Justices U U Lalit and Deepak Gupta passed this order while allowing a group of petitioners led by Jyoti Singh, working as a civil judge (junior division), to participate, as an interim measure, in the selection process to the post of additional district judge in Uttar Pradesh.

The direct recruitment to the post of additional district judge/district judge is conducted through written examinations and interview by the high courts with help of the State Public Service Commission. The advocates with minimum seven years of experience are so far eligible to apply for it.

The court has earlier granted similar concessions to the candidates working as judicial officers to appear in higher judicial service examinations in the states of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka.

The SC has agreed to examine a larger legal question if judicial officers — other than advocates, who completed seven years' practice before joining the service — could appear in the tests conducted as direct recruitment to the post of additional district judges.