Summary
The Delhi High Court challenged interim orders postponing judicial recruitment examinations over age eligibility. The Supreme Court upheld the minimum age of thirty-five for direct recruitment to the Delhi Higher Judicial Service. As a one-time measure following missed recruitment years, it permitted candidates who met the respective upper age limits in 2020 or 2021 to take the 2022 examinations. It fixed revised application and examination dates and disposed of the transferred writ petitions.
Issues
- Whether Article 233 precluded prescribing a minimum age of thirty-five for direct recruitment as a District Judge.
- Whether candidates who became overage after missed recruitment years should receive one-time eligibility relief.
- How the recruitment examinations should proceed.
Provisions considered
- Article 233, Constitution of IndiaThe constitutional requirement of at least seven years as an advocate or pleader did not preclude rules prescribing a minimum age for direct recruitment to the higher judicial service. (¶ 26-27)
Held
- Article 233 did not exhaust every permissible eligibility condition. Its silence on minimum age allowed rule-making authorities to prescribe an age requirement; thirty-five years reasonably served the objective of recruiting candidates with sufficient maturity and experience to the higher judicial service. (¶ 24-27)
- Reintroduction of the thirty-five-year minimum for the Delhi Higher Judicial Service was a policy decision consistent with the Shetty Commission recommendations. Its temporary deletion did not invalidate its restoration or entitle younger applicants to exemption. (¶ 24-27)
- As a one-time measure, candidates satisfying the Delhi Judicial Service upper age limit of thirty-two in recruitment years 2020 or 2021 were permitted to participate in the 2022 examination. Applications were extended to 3 April 2022 and the examination fixed for 24 April 2022; no court was to issue a contrary stay. (¶ 16-20)
- Equivalent one-time relief applied to Delhi Higher Judicial Service candidates within its forty-five-year upper age limit in 2020 or 2021. Applications were extended to 26 March 2022 and the examination fixed for 3 April 2022, with a website corrigendum required. The minimum age of thirty-five remained applicable. (¶ 27-31)
- The writ petitions were transferred to enable complete adjudication. The appeals were partly allowed and the transferred writ petitions and pending applications disposed of. (¶¶ 15, 32-33)
Result
Appeals partly allowed. The minimum age of thirty-five for the Delhi Higher Judicial Service was upheld; specified one-time upper-age relief and revised 2022 recruitment dates were directed. The transferred writ petitions and pending applications were disposed of.