Today, On 23rd September, The Supreme Court has allowed the 2022 Madhya Pradesh Civil Judge selection to proceed, ruling that the conditions of three years’ legal practice or 70% LL.B marks in a single attempt will not apply.
The Supreme Court set-aside a ruling by the Madhya Pradesh High Court that required three years of legal practice to qualify for the civil judge position.
A bench consisting of Justices P.S. Narasimha and A.S. Chandurkar granted the appeal brought by the Madhya Pradesh High Court, contesting the decision of its division bench.
Advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, representing the high court, argued that a re-examination was “unconstitutional, impractical” and would open the floodgates to litigation.
The bench stated,
“The June 13 order of the High Court in exercise of revision jurisdiction is set aside. The appeal is allowed.”
The Court determined that the requirements of either three years of continuous practice or obtaining an LL.B. degree in a single attempt with at least 70% marks implemented through the 2023 amendment will not be applicable to the 2022 recruitment process.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had allowed the Madhya Pradesh High Court to conduct interviews and declare results of the Civil Judge, Junior Division (Entry Level) Exam 2022.
The top court had also stayed the high court’s order restraining recruitment for the civil judge posts that were conducted without the mandatory three years of practice.
The controversy stems from the amendment of the Madhya Pradesh Judicial Services (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1994.
Earlier, On June 23, 2023, the rules were amended to make three years of practice compulsory for candidates appearing in the civil judge entry-level examination in the state.
Although the amended rules were upheld by the high court, fresh litigation began after two unselected candidates argued that they were eligible once the new rules were applied and requested a review of the cut-off marks.
While restraining recruitment, the high court directed that successful candidates in the preliminary examination who did not meet the eligibility criteria under the amended rules should be excluded.
The Supreme Court was hearing an appeal filed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court challenging the June 13, 2024 order passed by its division bench.
As per the revised Madhya Pradesh Judicial Service Rules, 1994, three years of legal practice was previously a compulsory requirement for appearing in the judicial services examination at the civil judge level.
However, the amendment allows exceptional law graduates who achieve a minimum of 70 percent marks in the general and other backward classes categories to be exempt from this three-year practice requirement.
Earlier, The high court division bench stated that the cut-off marks should be recalculated once the remaining candidates meet the criteria outlined in the amended recruitment rules.
Case Title: High Court of Madhya Pradesh and Anr. v. Jyotsna Dohalia and Anr.
Case Number: SLP(C) No. 21353/2024
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