New Delhi, Oct 28: Concerned over tardy career progression of entry-level judicial officers, the Supreme Court on Tuesday commenced hearing on the long-pending issue to frame nation-wide criteria for determining seniority in the cadre of higher district judicial services.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice B R Gavai took note of the situation that “in most of the states, judicial officers recruited as civil judge (CJ) often do not reach the level of principal district judge (PDJ), leave aside reaching the position of a high court judge. This has resulted in many bright young lawyers being dissuaded from joining the service at the level of CJ”.

On October 14, the bench, also comprising Justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, K Vinod Chandran, and Joymalya Bagchi, framed a q

See Full Page