Three Years’ Bar Practice Restored for Civil Judges; LDCE Quota for District Judges Raised to 25%

In the long-running All India Judges Association case, the Third AIJA judgment of 2002 allowed fresh law graduates to enter the judicial service and fixed a 25% LDCE quota for promotion to District Judge, later reduced to 10% in 2010 (paras 15, 18, 61). Applications sought restoration of the 25% quota, changes to eligibility and other reforms (paras 3-6). The amicus curiae tabulated the affidavits of the High Courts and States (para 11). The Court sought responses from the High Courts and States, and decided eight issues framed on them (paras 11-12, 21, 63).

Since posts unfilled from the LDCE quota revert to regular promotion in the same year, raising the quota to 25% would not harm the administration of justice (para 28). The requirement of five years as Civil Judge (Senior Division) left too few candidates and needed reconsideration (paras 25, 29-30). In most States the time to rise by regular promotion roughly equals the time to become eligible for the LDCE (para 40). Officers must keep abreast of the law, as the Third AIJA case stressed (para 50). High Courts must frame rules to judge the suitability of officers for promotion, though no strait-jacket formula is possible (para 52). The Second AIJA case had held that book knowledge and pre-service training cannot replace experience at the Bar (paras 56, 58, 83). Almost all High Courts reported that twenty years of recruiting fresh graduates had not been a successful experience (paras 63, 80-81). Exposure to courts and litigants acquaints young lawyers with the duties of every stakeholder (para 82). Practice should be counted from provisional enrolment, with certificates from senior advocates or judicial officers as safeguards (paras 85-88).