SC declines quota for promotee judges in Higher Judicial Service

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (November 19, 2025) refused to grant a quota for promotee judges in the Higher Judicial Service (HJS), observing that perceived discontentment and heartburn without something more in the form of a legal claim or even a legitimate expectation cannot result in creating an artificial classification of members within a cadre.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai said that fixation in the Selection Grade and Super Time Scale within the HJS is based on merit-cum-seniority within the cadre, and cannot depend on the length of service or performance in the lower rungs of the judiciary.

The Bench found that statistical data was disparate and did not justify such discontentment among regular promotees in the HJS.

“There is no common malady of disproportionate representation of direct recruits in the HJS such that it is diminishing the prospects of financial upgradation or designation as Principal District Judges to the promotees, which afflict the country as a whole or make it imperative for this court to resolve it, by giving a preference to regular promotees,” Chief Justice Gavai, who authored the judgment, reasoned.

Advancement opportunities

The judgment said in-service judicial officers had sufficient opportunities for advancement.

“That fixation in the Selection Grade and Super Time Scale within the HJS is based on the merit-cum-seniority within the cadre and cannot depend upon the length of service or performance in the lower rungs of the judiciary,” the Bench observed.

The top court issued guidelines for the filling up of the district judge posts and said the seniority of officers within the HJS should be determined through an annual four-point roster, filled by officers appointed in the particular year in the repeating sequence of two regular promotees, one promoted through Limited Departmental Competitive Examinations (LDCEs), and one direct recruit.