Supreme Court sets March 31 deadline for completing selection of district judges in Punjab

Tribune News Service

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, November 6

The Supreme Court on Monday sets March 31 next year as the deadline for completing the process for selection of district judges in Punjab.

A Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud also directed the Punjab Government to issue a formal notification with regard to selection of Civil Judges (Junior Division) by December 7, 2023 after it was told that the process for their recruitment has been completed and 114 candidates have been recommended for appointment.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court Registrar General Ramesh Chandra Dimri – who virtually appeared before the top court –said an advertisement will be issued within a week for filling up vacancies of District Judges (Direct Recruitment and promotion posts).

With regard to Haryana, the Bench was informed that the Recruitment and Promotion Committee will meet Tuesday and the decision would be conveyed to it.

There were cross-petitions pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court regarding selection of District Judges against promotional posts, the Bench was told.

Amicus Curiae Vijay Hansaria alleged that on recruitment of civil judges no progress had been made in Haryana on account of certain changes sought to be made in the rules, including addition of Haryana culture as a subject and introduction of Hindi Language after the September 26 verdict of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court had on September 26 paved the way for appointment of 175 judges in Haryana as it ruled that the recruitment shall be conducted by a committee consisting of three judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court nominated by the Chief Justice, Chief Secretary, Advocate General and Haryana Public Service Commission Chairman.

Dismissing an application filed by the Haryana Government seeking to alter the existing arrangement, a Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud had said, “The state government has not come before this court seeking modification of the arrangement and placing objective data to indicate either the inability of the HC to perform its task thus far or there have been deficiencies in it.”

“There is an urgent need to ensure that the existing 175 vacancies to the post of junior civil judges (140 existing 25 anticipated) are filled up at the earliest. The state government shall within a period of two weeks from the date of this order to take necessary step for the recruitment to conducted by a committee consisting of three judges of the high court nominated by the Chief Justice (including the CJ, if he decides so), the Chief Secretary, Advocate General and Haryana Public Service Commission Chairman,” the Bench had ordered.

While hearing a 2006 PIL relating to the improvement of judicial infrastructure including filling up of vacancies in lower judiciary across the country, the top court also questioned the delay in completing the process of recruitment of district judges in Madhya Pradesh and asked the high court to prepare and publish the schedule from preliminary examination to the declaration of final results of selection.

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