Supreme Court Rejects Plea To Treat Post-Graduation As Equivalent To Practice At Bar For Civil Judge Recruitment
The Supreme Court of India has ruled that a post-graduate degree in law does not qualify as equivalent to the mandatory practice at the Bar for Civil Judge recruitment. However, the court provided a temporary exemption for candidates applying between May 2025 and March 2027, allowing them to fulfill the requirement through a structured training program.
Why it matters
This ruling clarifies the professional requirements for judicial service in India, impacting the career paths of many law graduates.
The Supreme Court has rejected the contention that post-graduation in law should be treated as equivalent to practice at the Bar for the purpose of eligibility for recruitment as Civil Judge (Junior Division).A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Augustine George Masih and Justice K Vinod Chandran rejected the contention while deciding review petitions challenging the Court's May 20, 2025 judgment restoring the requirement of prior legal practice for entry-level judicial service.The Chief Justice, while pronouncing the judgment, said: “The contention that post-graduation should be treated equivalent to practice, that we have not been able to accept.”The Court, however, by 2:1 (Justice Chandran dissenting),modified the manner in which the practice requirement would operate. For recruitment notifications issued between May 20, 2025 and March 31, 2027, all law graduates will be eligible to apply notwithstanding the three-year practice requirement.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in