New Delhi, Sept. 23 — The Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a Madhya Pradesh High Court ruling that made three years of legal practice mandatory for eligibility to the post of civil judge. The move clears the way for ongoing recruitment in the state without enforcing the contested requirement.
A Bench comprising Justices P S Narasimha and Atul S Chandurkar allowed the appeal filed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court challenging the decision of its own division bench. The top court had last year stayed the high court order that stalled recruitment for civil judges carried out without the mandatory three-year experience.
Advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, representing the high court, argued that a re-examination would be “unconstitutional, impractical” and could open the floodgates for further litigation.
The controversy stems from the Madhya Pradesh Judicial Services Rules, 1994, which were amended on June 23, 2023, to make three years of legal practice compulsory for entry-level civil judge exams. While the amended rules were upheld by the high court, litigation resumed after two unselected candidates claimed eligibility under the revised norms and sought a review of the cut-off marks.
In its June 13, 2024 order, the MP High Court division bench had restrained recruitment, directing the exclusion of candidates who cleared the preliminary examination on January 14, 2024, but did not meet the amended eligibility criteria. The Supreme Court’s verdict on Tuesday effectively set aside that directive, allowing the recruitment process to proceed without invalidating the preliminary exam results.
The judgment ensures continuity in the recruitment of civil judges in Madhya Pradesh while settling a protracted legal dispute over eligibility criteria and retrospective application of amended rules.
