Interview Also Be Done To Assess Suitability Of Judicial Officers For Promotion As District Judges In 65% Quota : Supreme Court Suggests

The Supreme Court in its recent judgement concerning the promotion of Judicial Officers by the Gujarat High Court, observed a few suggestions to enhance the 'suitability test' employed by the High Court for promoting judicial officers on the basis of 'Merit-cum-Seniority'. On May 17, the Court upheld the recommendations made by the High Court of Gujarat in 2023 for the promotion of Senior Civil Judges to the 65% promotion quota of District Judges on the basis of merit-cum-seniority principle.The bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra in its ruling explained the concept of 'merit-cum-seniority' & 'suitability test' as applicable under Rule 5 of the Gujarat State Judicial Service Rules, 2005. Rule 5 requires that the 65% recruitment to the District Judge cadre be done through promotions amongst the Senior Civil Judges on the principle of merit-cum-seniority and passing a suitability test. The Court has suggested that the Gujarat High Court may amend its Rules on the aspect of the suitability test in making it as elaborative as seen in the Uttar Pradesh Higher Judicial Service Rules, 1975. The key recommendations included having a Viva Voce as another testing component for the candidates, increasing the passing threshold under each existing component, considering the quality of judgements of the candidates from last two years instead of one year and including seniority within the test scoring while finalising the merit list . In the instant case, the writ petitioners sought to declare the Select List dated 10.03.2023 issued by the High Court of Gujarat for the promotion of Senior Civil Judges to the Cadre of District Judge (65% quota) as being violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India as well as Rule 5 of the Gujarat State Judicial Service Rules, 2005 On 'Suitability Test' As Per Rule 5 : Merit Under 'Merit-cum-Seniority' Is To Be Determined By A Suitability Test The Court observed that the principle of 'Merit-cum-Seniority' required the aspect of merit to be determined based on a suitability test. In the present case of the High Court's decision on promotions, the suitability test used conformed with the decision in All India Judges' Association (3) which referred to two main requirements - (i) the objective assessment of legal knowledge of the judicial officer including adequate knowledge of case law, (ii) the evaluation of continued efficiency of the individual candidate. "The term 'Merit-cum-Seniority' in context of 2005 Rules implies that both merit and seniority would be considered in the promotion of a candidate, with merit being determined on the basis of a suitability test......In the present case, the merit of a candidate is assessed by means of a suitability test, as prescribed under paragraph 27 of the decision in All India Judges' Association (3) (supra)." The Court observed that the suitability test is meant to asses several factors in order to consider the candidate's merit. These factors include considerations like (1) Knowledge of law; (2) Quality of judgments; (3) Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs); (4) Efficiency during their tenure. The test is designed to ensure that those who are able to succeed in it possess the same level of merit. Based on this evaluation of merit, candidates are then promoted on the basis of seniority. It was held that even though seniority is considered last merit is still the main focus. If a candidate is not suitable, they can't be promoted, no matter how senior they are."The suitability test assesses multiple aspects of a candidate's merit like knowledge of law, quality of judgments, ACRs, etc. along with the efficiency of the candidate exhibited during the tenure already served. The suitability test is devised in such a manner that all candidates who clear the test can be said to possess more or less the same level of merit. Once a list of all similarly meritorious candidates is prepared, seniority is applied to select the candidates for promotion. Although seniority is applied at the last stage of the selection process, yet merit still plays the pre-dominant role as a candidate who does not possess the necessary suitability becomes ineligible for promotion irrespective of their seniority." The Court therefore concluded that it is wrong to claim that since the test did not compare the merit of the candidates and seniority was used at the final step, the selection process violated the 'Merit-cum-Seniority' principle. As long as merit and seniority are considered with merit taking a dominant focus, the promotion would be considered valid under the 'Merit-cum-Seniority' rule. "We are of the view that it would be incorrect to hold that merely because the test was not one of comparative merit and as seniority was applied at the final stage of the selection process, the process cannot be said to be one not adhering to the principle of 'Merit-cum-Seniority'. As long as 'Merit-cum-Seniority' is applied in the manner...

Interview Also Be Done To Assess Suitability Of Judicial Officers For Promotion As District Judges In 65% Quota : Supreme Court Suggests

Anmol Kaur Bawa

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