SC scales three-year rule for judges down to one

Today, a Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices A.G. Masih and K.V. Chandran modified the Supreme Court’s 2025 mandate for Civil Judge (Junior Division) candidates to have three years of practical experience at the Bar. The majority held that the practice requirement could be met through a combination of institutional training and supervised work. Disagreeing with due respect, Justice Chandran dismissed the review petitions in his minority opinion.

In 2025, the Court had restored the three-year practice requirement, overruling a 2002 decision which permitted fresh law graduates to enter the subordinate judiciary without prior experience at the Bar. The review petitions challenged this restoration on the ground that compulsory practice could discourage talented law graduates from entering judicial service, and proposed structured training and clerkships as alternatives.

‘Limited intervention’ warranted to address hardship

The CJI said the Court was not reconsidering the desirability of practical experience for entry-level judges, but only the manner in which the requirement was implemented. “The sudden restoration of the three-year practice rule without any transitional arrangement has visited hardship on young lawyers and law graduates,” he observed.

“The objective behind the rule can be achieved not just through conventional practice but through a combination of pre-institutional training at the state judicial academy and supervised probation,” the CJI said. Rejecting the submission that postgraduate legal education could be treated as experience at the Bar, the Court held that training at the academy and supervised experience would count as equivalent instead.

Candidates to enter as trainee judicial officers till March 2027 

The Court held that candidates covered by recruitment notifications issued between May 2025 and March 2027 would be eligible to apply irrespective of their prior experience. It directed that these candidates be appointed as Trainee Judicial Officers for one year and undergo one year of intensive training at the State Judicial Academy. During this period, trainees will receive emoluments equivalent to half of the gross remuneration of a Judicial Magistrate First Class.

The one-year training at the State Judicial Academy will be followed by one year of law clerkship. Further, the first six months of the clerkship will be spent under a Principal District Judge and the remaining six months under sitting judges of the High Court. During the clerkship, trainees will receive the emoluments payable during training at the State Judicial Academy. 

One year of active practice after 31 March 2027

For candidates applying under recruitment notifications issued after 31 March 2027, the Court mandated at least one year of active practice, subject to verification of certificates. It directed High Courts to amend the rules governing their judicial services within three months to give effect to these directions.

The CJI said the directions also addressed concerns raised on accommodation for persons with disabilities.

“A period of three years provides sufficient institutional experience to evaluate whether the scheme is achieving the desired objective,” the CJI said, adding that the Court could thereafter review the arrangement on the basis of relevant indicators.