Supreme Court urged to factor in judicial officers’ prior experience as lawyers to fill vacancies

Petitioners in the Supreme Court on Wednesday (September 24, 2025) urged a Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai to embrace an “integrated” approach to fill up vacancies in the subordinate courts, which have nearly 5,000 vacancies.

The sanctioned strength of the district judiciary is 25,870. The petitioners argued that in the case of district judge appointments, the work experience of candidates both as lawyers and judicial officers ought to be factored in.

The Constitution Bench is hearing a reference on whether judicial officers with seven years’ legal experience could avail of the Bar quota for District Judge appointment.

The reference to the Constitution Bench was based on the interpretation of Article 233(2) of the Constitution. Clause (2) of the Article prescribes that “a person not already in the service of the Union or of the State shall only be eligible to be appointed a District Judge if he has been for not less than seven years an advocate or a pleader and is recommended by the High Court for appointment”.

The Constitution Bench is being urged to factor in the experience of judicial officers spent as practising lawyers in order to enable them to write exams for the post of District Judges under the Bar quota.

“It is the same stream, two rivers flowing into the ocean, I am asking that, that constitutional ocean be extended to Article 233. Because that is the concept of an integrated judiciary. To do otherwise would not only impact the Constitution framers’ vision of an integrated judiciary but also the nature of the Indian state,” senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy submitted.