New Delhi: Last week, a five-judge or constitution bench of the Supreme Court resumed hearing a batch of petitions that seek to address the “anomalous situation” where most entry-level judicial officers or civil judges fail to rise up to the ranks of district judges or high court judges.
Clarifying that the court won’t be taking away the discretionary powers of high courts in making appointments, the Chief Justice B.R. Gavai-led bench flagged the increasingly fewer promotional avenues for serving officers, while mulling whether there should be some kind of quota for entry-level judicial officers when it comes to positions in the district judiciary.
As of now, career stagnation, bleak promotional avenues and disillusionment plague the subordinate judiciary, former civil and district court judges have told ThePrint, adding that this is why many of them left service early.
Despite devoting decades to the profession, most judicial officers only dream of making it as district judges. In fact, it is very rare to see entry-level magistrates or civil judges rise up to the ranks of high court judges.
The reason behind this is that district judges are selected from a pool of senior civil judges, who were once civil judges, or through direct recruitment, like elevation from the bar. The problem comes when an odd 27-year-old enters the judiciary as a civil judge, but by the time he is promoted to the post of senior civil judge in 10 years, he is already 37.
From here, it takes another 10 or more years to reach the post of a district judge, say by age 47-50. More often than not, most such judges end up retiring as district or senior civil judges, because by the time they are even considered for elevation to the HC, in the next few years, they are close to retirement age.
This is the crux of the issue that was referred by the SC early last month to a five-judge bench of the court.
Underlining the need for a permanent solution to the problem, the court had earlier said: “We are of the considered view that the issue must be considered by a constitution bench consisting of five judges.”
The matter will be heard next on 4 November.
Apart from the problem of reaching the higher judiciary, there are other tribulations endured by civil judges, retired Patna High Court judge Anjana Prakash told ThePrint, adding that the situation is complex since every state has a different system.
“Broadly, there aren’t enough sanctioned posts, so there are fewer chances of promotion,” she said, asserting that working conditions, infrastructure, accommodation and amenities aren’t up to the mark in many states as well.
What’s behind the issue
There is a two-tier system in trial courts: civil judges or magistrates at the lowest level and then district judges or sessions judges.
To become a civil judge or magistrate, a fresh law graduate with three years of experience in the bar can take an exam. For direct recruitment to district judge posts, a lawyer with seven years of practice and under 35 years of age can sit for an exam and directly join the judiciary.
However, a sitting magistrate has to wait for their turn to get promoted as a district or sessions judge. The second option for such a judicial officer is to take the same exam that a lawyer sits for. But to be eligible for this, such a magistrate should have seven years of legal practice.
Former district judge (commercial court) Gurdeep Singh told ThePrint that there are hurdles at every level. However, this wasn’t the case when the Constitution was framed, he said.
“Back then, there were two main services, the Indian Civil Service and Judicial Service. Judicial officers were placed on a par with bureaucrats because our Constitution-makers felt that lawyers contributed significantly to the freedom struggle, and wanted to acknowledge their service to the nation,” Singh explained.
Over time, the power structures changed and higher judiciary judges and advocates were placed on the upper echelon, Singh, who also headed the Delhi Judicial Academy, said, adding that usually judges directly recruited from the bar hold the power and don’t consider service judges (who joined through exam and rose through promotion) as equals.
Slow progression
“It simply takes too long,” former civil judge Bharat Chugh, who joined the Delhi judiciary in 2013 and left 3.5 years later, told ThePrint. He too highlighted that by the time most judges make their way up to the higher judiciary, they are too old.
A lawyer practising in a high court who really wants to take up judgeship would usually, after putting in a good 15-20 years of practice, be considered for judgeship to the HC in his late 40s or 50s, he said.
“Think about how much more of a difference one can make if they have an entire decade of experience in the high court. The ground reality is that after spending 32 years practising law, people make it to the high courts, only to spend a year or two there.”
Echoing a similar sentiment, former Delhi district court judge H.S. Sharma said that people join the judicial service for different reasons. While many just want to do an honest job by serving the people, some do it with the hope of making it to the higher judiciary—and get disillusioned.
“The reality is that bar members are given seniority above judicial officers. Years ago, Justice B.N. Kirpal had said that judicial officers should be allowed to break the queue and be given opportunities. How many of us end up becoming HC or SC judges? The answer is very few,” he told ThePrint.
Way forward
Although there is no immediate solution in sight, Chugh believes the system can be remedied if the district judiciary were to have a more significant share at the high court level.
“It would really open up more opportunities for people as we go along. The only way around is to select judges not just on the basis of seniority but also their contribution (judgements), so the best are selected. Trial court judges carry a wealth of knowledge that can be utilised in disposing of burgeoning matters in high courts. Some mechanism could be worked out on the basis of the ACR (annual confidential report) and how one performs in the interview,” he said.
Former district court judge Janak Arya also told ThePrint that the situation can be remedied in a way that there is some parity among officers joining at the district-level stage and entry-level stage.
“Some formula needs to be devised in the form of some guarantee that an entry-level magistrate will be elevated in 10 years or so as a district judge.”
Explaining how often magistrates take 12-15 years to become district judges, Arya said entry-level judicial officers must be promoted on a par with the district judiciary, which was envisaged in the 2002 All India Judges’ Association case, through ways like the Limited Departmental Competitive Examination (LDCE).
At last week’s hearing, too, amicus curiae Siddharth Bhatnagar proposed solutions to remedy the inadequate representation of civil judges at the district level, like creating 50% quota for promoted judges and those directly recruited, or giving extra weightage to those coming from the lower judiciary. These are, however, yet to be agreed upon.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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