Now Reading: Supreme Court issues notice on Gujarat judge recruitment challenge
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Supreme Court issues notice on Gujarat judge recruitment challenge
The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice on a petition by two advocates challenging the Gujarat High Court’s recruitment of district judges under the 25% direct quota for 2024-25. None of the…
The Story in Brief
The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice on a petition by two advocates challenging the Gujarat High Court’s recruitment of district judges under the 25% direct quota for 2024-25. None of the 113 advertised vacancies were filled even though two candidates, Mansi Jain and Vishal Baljit Singh, qualified for the viva voce stage. Both scored well in the written exam but failed the interview, which required 20 out of 50 marks. They got 9.6 and 10 respectively. The petition, filed through advocate Prashant Bhushan, argues the process gave disproportionate weight to the interview and that the viva voce lasted only about five minutes, contrary to the Justice Shetty Commission’s recommendation of 25-30 minutes. Over seven years and five recruitment exercises, only one direct-quota appointment has been made from 264 notified vacancies.
The Indian Opinion
Hearing a challenge to the Gujarat High Court’s recruitment results, the Supreme Court has rightly flagged a serious anomaly. The High Court left 113 district judge vacancies unfilled despite having qualified candidates. Over the past seven years, only one appointment has been made under the direct quota. Narratives of either ‘unworthy candidates’ or ‘arbitrary judges’ miss the point. Either the selection process is broken or the marks for viva voce are unrealistically high. The court must now examine whether a five-minute interview can justify leaving so many posts vacant for years.
Source: livelaw.in
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
