The Supreme Court on Friday revised its May 2025 ruling on eligibility for entry-level judicial examinations, providing relief to law graduates and young lawyers by reducing the mandatory legal practice requirement from three years to one year.
A three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice Suryakant, Justice Augustine George Masih and Justice K Vinod Chandran delivered the verdict by a 2:1 majority while hearing review petitions against the earlier ruling. Chief Justice Suryakant and Justice A G Masih formed the majority, while Justice K Vinod Chandran dissented and favoured dismissal of the review petitions.
The court has also introduced an interim arrangement to address difficulties arising from the earlier three-year practice requirement. Under the arrangement, candidates will be allowed to appear in judiciary examinations notified between May 25, 2025 and March 31, 2027 without prior legal practice experience.
However, candidates selected without the required experience will not receive immediate posting. They will first undergo one year of training as Trainee Judicial Officers at a Judicial Academy, followed by one year of structured clerkship. From April 1, 2027, candidates appearing for judicial recruitments will be required to have at least one year of legal practice.
The court acknowledged the difficulties caused by the sudden introduction of the three-year practice requirement. On May 20, 2025, the Supreme Court had ruled that candidates must have at least three years of legal practice before appearing for the Civil Judge (Junior Division) examination, effectively preventing fresh law graduates from directly entering the judicial service.
While delivering the majority judgment, Chief Justice Suryakant maintained that the underlying reasoning of the earlier decision that judicial officers should have practical exposure to the legal profession remained valid. However, the court held that the eligibility requirement should be reasonable and should not create undue hardship for young lawyers and law graduates.
The decision follows consultations with High Courts, National Law Universities and law colleges on the impact of the three-year practice requirement. The Supreme Court had reserved its judgment on the review and writ petitions on July 28 after completing the hearings.
Earlier, on March 13, the court had directed High Courts to extend the application deadline for civil judge recruitment to April 30 and sought their views, along with those of National Law Universities and law colleges, on the three-year experience rule.