Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: A division Bench of the Supreme Court on May 9 reserved its order on a petition challenging the promotion of 68 judicial officers to district judges based on the 65 per cent quota rule.
According to media reports, among those promoted is Surat Judicial Magistrate Harish Hasmukhbhai Varma, who found Congress leader Rahul Gandhi guilty of criminal defamation in March and sentenced him to two years of simple imprisonment.
Two petitioners
The petition before the top court was moved by two judicial officers of the senior civil judge cadre in Gujarat — Ravikumar Maheta, Under Secretary in the legal department of the state Government, and Sachin Prataprai Mehta, Assistant Director at the Gujarat State Legal Services Authority. The two challenged the selection of the 68 judicial officers to the cadre of the district judge.
As per the petition, despite obtaining higher marks than many of the selected candidates, those with lower marks have been appointed thus giving a go-by to the principle of ‘merit-cum-seniority’ and instead, making appointments on the basis of ‘seniority-cum-merit’.
According to the recruitment rules, the post of the district judge is to be filled in by keeping 65 per cent reservation on the basis of the principle of ‘merit-cum-seniority’ and passing a suitability test, the petitioners have submitted.
Fresh merit list
The petition, moved on March 28, has sought the court’s direction to set aside the appointment, said the media report.
The petitioners, it said, have sought the top court’s direction to set aside the selection list issued by the High Court on March 10 and the subsequent notification of the state Government for the appointments. The petition has also sought that the High Court be directed to prepare a fresh merit list on the principle of ‘merit-cum-seniority’.
