The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a plea by eight judicial officers to be considered for appointment as judges of the Madras High Court.
In a judgment authored by Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde for a three-judge Bench, the court said the eight judicial officers, who were directly appointed district judges in 2011, wanted to club their experience as lawyers as well as their years on the Bench to be found eligible for elevation to the High Court.
“The petitioners want the best of both worlds,” Chief Justice Bobde wrote. The judgment said they would complete 10 years of judicial service necessary to be reckoned for elevation only in February 2021. The judges had claimed that they had been overlooked and their juniors have been recommended. They wanted the list of names recommended to the High Court collegium to be returned. “There are two separate queues, one from judicial service and another from the Bar. One cannot stand in one queue by virtue of his status on the date of consideration of his name for elevation and at the same time keep a towel in the other queue, so that he can claim to be within the zone of consideration from either of the two or from a combination of both,” Chief Justice Bobde observed.
The judgment said the queue assigned to a person depends on his status on the date of consideration.
“If a person is an advocate on the date of consideration, he can take his place only in the queue meant for members of the Bar. Similarly, if a person is a judicial officer on the date of consideration, he shall take his chance only in the queue meant for service candidates... Hopping on and hopping off from one queue to the other, is not permissible,” the CJI observed.
The court said the petition was “wholly misconceived”.
