The Supreme Court on Tuesday (May 20, 2025) has given an important verdict on the appointment of the judges of the lower court i.e. Junior Division Civil Judge. The court says that for the examination on these posts, the candidate is required to do at least three years of legal practice, that is, he will be able to take the exam only when he works as a lawyer for three years after being a law graduate. The decision has been given by a bench of Chief Justice Bhushan Ramakrishna Gavai, Justice AG Christ and Justice Vinod Chandran.

CJI Gawai said that the new law graduate will not be able to take the exam directly for the junior division civil judge, they will have to take the judge examination only after practice at least 3 years. The CJI said that in the appointment of Senior Division Civil Judge, there is 25 percent departmental reservation for junior civil judges.

The court said that a period of three years can be considered from the date of nomination. This condition will not be applicable to those examinations, whose process has been started by the High Courts. At present, this rule of the Supreme Court will not apply to the candidates who appear in these examinations, but the candidates will have to fulfill this condition in the further examinations.

The court has exempted the candidates that the certificate of the lawyer working for ten years will be valid, but the advocate should be recognized by the Judicial Officer of that station. This means that if the candidate practices for three years with such a lawyer, then he will be valid for the examination of the junior judge.

If a lawyer has been practicing in the Supreme Court or High Court for ten years and the candidate works with him for three years, then that lawyer should have been recognized by the Supreme Court or High Court. Apart from this, a candidate working as a law clerk for three years can also take the exam.

The Supreme Court believes that it can make it difficult to include such a law graduate to a civil judge like a civil judge, who has not done legal practice even for a day. The court said that this practice has been going on for 20 years, which have not been revealed. Many problems arise by putting law graduates directly to such posts. The court said that only reading or training of law books cannot provide knowledge of court system, this can only happen when the candidate knows about the functioning of the court, how the lawyers and judges work in the court.

Also read:-
First the beating and now the drum of bravery is Pakistan, Shahbaz Sharif said – ‘If India …’

Education photo gallery

Education web stories