While referring to Article 233 (2) of the Indian Constitution, the Supreme Court held that civil judges are not eligible to seek direct recruitment to the post of District Judges in bar quota, stating that ‘Only practicing candidates can avail the quota and requires 7 years of continuous practice.’
During the hearing of the case Dheeraj Mor vs. Hon’ble High Court of Delhi, the bench comprising of Justices Kurian Joseph and Mohan M Shantanagoudar was dealing with an issue of whether Civil Judges can seek direct recruitment to the post of District Judges against the quota reserved for candidates from Bar. The court observed that the present case involved a substantial question of law regarding the interpretation of Article 233 of the Constitution that whether members of subordinate judiciary, who have seven years of practice as an advocate, are eligible to seek appointment as District Judges through direct recruitment.
“The bar is the fountain source of the judiciary. If you don’t have experience at the bar, you cannot know all the streams of the law. While you are in service, you have to follow promotion quota,” stated the court.
Earlier on 10 May 2019, the division bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Navin Sinha restrained the recruitment of in-service candidates to District Judge posts through bar quote.
