20 May 2025 Constitutional & Government >> Constitution & Law Procedure  

In a landmark judgment issued on May 20, 2025, the Supreme Court of India delivered comprehensive directives aimed at reforming the qualification, promotion, and selection processes for judicial officers across the country. The ruling, delivered by a bench including Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, Justice Augustine George Masih, and Justice K. Vinod Chandran, addressed eight key issues concerning entry into the Civil Judge (Junior Division) cadre, promotions within the judicial services, and entry into the Higher Judicial Service (District Judge cadre).

The judgment stems from a batch of applications filed in the ongoing All India Judges Association & Others v/s Union of India & Others case, which dates back to a 1989 writ petition. The Court had framed seven issues for consideration on April 25, 2023, and an eighth issue was added on May 18, 2023, concerning the calculation of legal practice experience.

Key Directives and Reforms:

1. LDCE Quota for District Judges Increased to 25%: The Court has directed all High Courts and State Governments to amend their service rules to increase the quota for Limited Departmental Competitive Examination (LDCE) for promotion from Civil Judge (Senior Division) to the Higher Judicial Service (District Judge cadre) from 10% to 25%. This move aims to provide greater incentive and accelerated promotion opportunities for meritorious judicial officers. The Court found that the earlier reduction to 10% had led to many unfilled vacancies.

2. Reduced Experience for LDCE (District Judge): To ensure a sufficient pool of candidates for the increased LDCE quota, the minimum qualifying service required to appear in the LDCE for promotion to Higher Judicial Service has been reduced from 5 years to 3 years as Civil Judge (Senior Division). However, the total service required, including Civil Judge (Junior Division) and Civil Judge (Senior Division), must be a minimum of 7 years. This addresses the anomaly where officers could get regular promotion before becoming eligible for LDCE.

3. LDCE Quota for Civil Judge (Senior Division): A new 10% quota for accelerated promotion from Civil Judge (Junior Division) to Civil Judge (Senior Division) through an LDCE mechanism has been introduced. The minimum qualifying service for this examination will be 3 years as Civil Judge (Junior Division). This aims to incentivize merit at an earlier stage of a judicial officer's career.

4. Vacant LDCE Posts to Revert to Regular Promotion: If any posts reserved for LDCE, either for Civil Judge (Senior Division) or Higher Judiciary, remain vacant, they shall be filled through regular promotion based on 'merit-cum-seniority' in the same recruitment year. This ensures no adverse impact on judicial administration due to unfilled positions.

5. Vacancy Calculation Based on Cadre Strength: The Court directed that vacancies for LDCE should be calculated based on cadre strength, not just the number of vacancies occurring in a particular recruitment year. This aims to bring uniformity across all states, as most states already follow this practice.

6. Suitability Test for Regular Promotions to District Judge: High Courts and State Governments are mandated to frame or amend rules for a suitability test for promoting Civil Judges (Senior Division) to the District Judge cadre against the existing 65% quota for merit-cum-seniority promotions. This test should assess factors such as updated legal knowledge, quality of judgments, Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) of the preceding five years, disposal rate, viva voce performance, general perceptions, awareness, and communication skills.

7. Minimum 3 Years' Practice for Civil Judge (Junior Division) Entry Restored: The requirement of having a minimum of 3 years of legal practice for appearing in the Civil Judge (Junior Division) examination has been restored. This reverses a previous decision that had dispensed with this requirement. The Court noted that the recruitment of "raw graduates" without practical experience had led to issues like difficulty in handling procedural matters, behavioral problems with lawyers and staff, and a lack of understanding of court decorum.

8. Practice Period Calculation from Provisional Enrollment: The 3 years of practice for Civil Judge (Junior Division) eligibility will be calculated from the date of provisional enrollment/registration with the concerned State Bar Council. This experience can be certified by a Principal Judicial Officer or by an advocate of at least 10 years' standing, duly endorsed by a Principal Judicial Officer. Experience gained as Law Clerks with Judges or Judicial Officers will also be considered.

The Court also mandated that fresh recruits undergo at least 1 year of compulsory training before presiding in a court.

Implementation Timeline:

All necessary amendments to the service rules must be carried out by High Courts within three months from the judgment date, and concerned State Governments must approve them within a further three months. The requirement of minimum practice will apply from the next recruitment process, not to selection processes already initiated before this judgment.

The Supreme Court expressed its gratitude to the learned amicus curiae, Shri Sidharth Bhatnagar, and other counsel for their valuable contributions in consolidating information and assisting the Court.