A public interest litigation (PIL) petition has been filed in the Madras High Court challenging the latest Civil Judges recruitment notification in so far as it permits even fresh law graduates to compete for the judicial post. Advocate M. Radhakrishnan, 68, had filed the petition on the ground the permission was unconstitutional, arbitrary, unreasonable and irrational.
According to the petitioner, a seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court had in S.P. Gupta and others versus Union of India (1982) had held that the profession of lawyers was an integral part of the judicial system and that they would be naturally concerned if integrity and independence of the judiciary was threatened by any act of the State.
Therefore, “allowing fresh graduates in law, who are not advocates, since they cannot claim to be so until they enrol themselves with the Bar Council, and who are consequently not an integral part of the judicial system to compete for the post of Civil Judge would be contrary to the above observations of the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court,” the petitioner claimed.
Stating that he had filed a similar case in 2008, Mr. Radhakrishnan pointed out that a Division Bench of the High Court had allowed his writ petition then and ordered that only those who had enrolled themselves with the Bar council, and not mere graduates in law, would be entitled to compete for the post of Civil Judge.
However, a decade after that, a recruitment notification has been issued by committing the same mistake, he said.
