New Delhi: The Supreme Court expressed displeasure over non-adherence to the time limit in the recruitment of judicial officers in many states. The Supreme Court on Monday expressed displeasure that despite setting a deadline for the recruitment of judicial officers, only nine out of 25 states completed the appointment process of civil judges within the stipulated time. The Supreme Court had made it mandatory to adhere to a time limit for filling up the vacancies in district and subordinate courts. This process was to start on 31 March and end by 31 October of the same year. However, the program was modified at the request of several high courts.
A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Prashant Kumar Mishra in the Supreme Court said, ‘The recruitment process should adhere to the time limit, but if there is any special and unavoidable requirement, the stakeholders should be informed with promptness.’ The top court made these observations in a judgment by which it upheld the rules prescribing minimum qualifying marks in the oral examination as part of the selection criteria for appointment to judicial officers in Bihar and Gujarat.
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The bench said, ‘A report of the Center for Research and Planning of the Supreme Court states that despite the decision in the case of Malik Mazhar (supra) setting a timeline for recruitment, only nine out of 25 states have appointed civil judges ( Recruitment of Judges Division) was completed within the stipulated time limit. The report states that Bihar state took 945 days to complete the recruitment process from the date of advertisement (March 9, 2020) to the date of final result (October 10, 2022).
In its decision, the apex court had emphasized the importance of a timetable for conducting judicial services examinations. Issuing several directions, the bench also said that as a confidence building measure, designations of persons included in the interview panel may also be appropriately provided for in the relevant rules. The bench said that another suggestion is to provide a basic outline of the syllabus for the proposed examination, which will help the candidates from different backgrounds to plan and prepare for the examination even before its notification is issued.
Tags: court, Supreme Court
FIRST PUBLISHED: May 7, 2024, 09:12 IST