Supreme Court: In a challenge against order passed by the Division Bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court on 12-12-2023 refusing to consider plea by petitioners seeking permission to provisionally appear and participate in the upcoming Civil Judges Selection examination to be held on 14-01-2023, the Division Bench of Hrishikesh Roy and Sanjay Karol, JJ. allowed them to fill the application forms and apply for the said examination on a provisional basis.
Background: 3-year practice for Judiciary
The matter of concern brought in by the two lawyers in the writ petition before High Court relates to the validity of 1994 Rules and Advertisement dated 17-11-2023 containing the following conditions as eligibility criteria to appear for Civil Judges Selection examination:
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Minimum 3 years of practice at the bar post enrollment along with 6 appearances/order sheets minimum in the previous 3 years; OR
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Must have possessed 70% marks as Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) in the first attempt, without any failure or ATKT in any subject during the entire law course.
Court’s Decision
The Court noted the submission that the Madhya Pradesh Judicial Services (Recruitment and Conditions of Services) Rules, 1994 was the subject matter of challenge in the writ petition before the High Court which prescribed fresh eligibility criteria of ‘continuous practice as an Advocate for not less than three years’. According to the submission, the next hearing for the said writ petition was deferred to January, however, the last date for filling application forms was 18-12-2023. Therefore, it was argued before the Court in the instant matter to permit the petitioners to fill in the forms and offer their candidature for advertisement dated 17-11-2023.
The Court issued notice for permitting the petitioners “to apply and appear in the recruitment test, subject to the determination of the contention made by the High Court in the pending Writ Petition.” However, the Court clarified that the instant order permitting the petitioners to offer their candidature did not mean determination of their eligibility for the said post.
The Court further directed that since the first examination was scheduled to be held on 14-01-2024, the results of the petitioners be kept in a sealed cover.
[Neha Kothari v. Madhya Pradesh High Court, SLP Diary No. 52322 of 2023, Order dated 15-12-2023]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
Advocate Siddhartha R Gupta, Advocate on Record Divyanshu Kumar Srivastava, Advocate Sunil Gupta, Advocate Shantanu Sharma, Advocate Kapil Duggal, Advocate Karan Verma
