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Informist, Tuesday, May 20, 2025

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court on Tuesday held that a minimum of three years of legal practice is mandatory to qualify for judicial services, making fresh law graduates ineligible to apply for the civil judges junior division examination. However, this requirement will not apply to recruitment processes that have already begun and will take effect from the next cycle of appointments, a bench led by Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai said. All such recruitment processes which were kept in abeyance due to the pendency of this case shall proceed now in accordance with the amended rules as notified, the court added.

The top court said that the appointments of fresh law graduates into the judiciary have caused several problems. Judges, from the very first day in office, deal with matters concerning life, liberty, and property, areas that demand not just academic knowledge but practical courtroom experience gained by assisting seniors and understanding the court said the bench, also comprising Justice A.G. Masih.  

The apex court further directed that the required three years of experience will be calculated from the date a candidate receives provisional enrolment registration from the bar councils. "All state governments shall amend rules to ensure that any candidate to appear for civil judges junior division shall have a minimum practice of three years," the apex court said. 

Experience as a law clerk to judges will also count toward the required legal practice, the court said. To validate this experience, a certificate from an advocate with at least 10 years of standing, endorsed by the judicial officer of the respective station, will be sufficient, the top court said. For candidates practising in the Supreme Court or a high court, a certificate endorsed by an advocate having a minimum standing of 10 years, endorsed by an officer designated by the court, will act as proof, said the court. "They must undergo a year of training before presiding in a court," the top court added.

Initially, in most states there was a condition that lawyers with a minimum three years of practice could apply for judicial service. However, in 2002, the top court had done away with that requirement, allowing fresh law graduates to apply for posts such as Munsiff-Magistrate Thereafter, pleas were filed in the Supreme Court seeking the reinstatement of the previous condition of experience for entering into the judiciary.  End

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Subhojit Sarkar

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