The futures of judicial services aspirants across the country remain uncertain as they suffer the consequences of delayed selection processes.
Delays in the announcement of exam results is a common issue in judicial services exams, primarily due to the absence of a fixed timeline set by the authorities.
Last year, Bar & Bench published an in-depth story exploring the factors contributing to judicial vacancies, including delays in conduct of exams announcement of results, and how these issues impact judiciary aspirants.
A year later, little seems to have changed. Most States that recently conducted exams have failed to declare the results for reasons that are unclear.
In this piece, we examine the situation in a few States, with authorities citing various reasons for the delays in the selection process, and in some cases, not at all. We will also shed light on aspects overlooked by the High Courts or State commissions responsible for conducting these exams. But first, a brief overview.
Civil judge exams in India are competitive exams conducted by state judicial services to recruit judges for the subordinate judiciary. These exams aim to select qualified candidates for entry-level positions in the judiciary, primarily as civil judges, who handle disputes at the district or subordinate court levels.
Candidates with a minimum of seven years of experience in legal practice can also appear for the Higher Judicial Services (HJS) Exam to become additional district or session judges.
According to a report submitted by the Supreme Court last year, 1,788 vacancies (21%) exist in the district judge cadre (Higher Judicial Services), out of a sanctioned strength of 8,387. Additionally, the civil judge cadre has 3,512 vacancies, against a sanctioned strength of 16,694.
Delhi Judicial Services Exam, 2023
Status: Results of mains exam still awaited
Last update: Results of prelims announced in February 2024
Delay period: 9 months
Nine months have passed since the Delhi Judicial Services 2023 mains exam, yet the results have not been declared.
The Delhi High Court notified the exam date for the exam on its website in November 2023, with the preliminary exam taking place in December. The results of the prelims were announced in February 2024. Following this, three writ petitions were filed - one in February and two in March - seeking revaluation of the answer sheets. After all hearings concluded, the final preliminary results were declared.
Till now, there have been no updates or announcements from the High Court regarding the outcome, and 700 candidates are still waiting anxiously for the results. It has been a year since the exam dates were first announced, leaving aspirants in a state of uncertainty and anxiety, with no formal communication from the authorities.
Speaking to Bar & Bench, a candidate waiting for the result said,
"The entire scenario is quite weird because it ultimately postpones future vacancies. Haryana and Rajasthan completed their recruitment within 6-8 months and the Delhi High Court cannot even release the Mains result during the same period."
In the past, judicial exams in the capital were conducted back-to-back in December 2018 and August 2019, with barely a seven-month gap.
Jharkhand Judicial Services Exam Civil Judge (Junior Division), 2023
Status: Mains exam yet to be conducted
Last update: Delay due to vacancy of State Commission Chairman post
Delay period: 9 months
The Jharkhand Judicial Services Exam 2023 was announced in August 2023 to address the significant gap since the last notification in 2018. However, despite the passage of over 15 months, only the preliminary stage of the examination has been conducted (on March 10, 2024).
The Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) revealed that the delay is attributed to the position of the Chairman remaining vacant. A concerned aspirant then filed a writ petition before the High Court to hasten the appointment process. While hearing the case, the High Court urged the JPSC to appoint the Chairman expeditiously.
Another aspirant said that pursuing a judicial services career has become tougher, as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the process and increased competition, with candidates from 2018-2019 having to compete in exams held from 2021 onwards.
"As a 2021 law graduate, I have been preparing for judicial service exams for three years now. The uncertainty surrounding the examination process, coupled with the limited number of seats in each vacancy, presents significant obstacles. In such a scenario, it is deeply disheartening to see a state delay the next stage of the examination for over 15-16 months after its advertisement," he added.
Uttar Pradesh Judicial Services Exam, 2023
Status: 2023 Exam process complete, mains result challenged.
Last update: High Court has formed committee headed by former judge Justice Govind Mathur to look into lapses
Delay period: 1 year and 2 months
Judiciary aspirants from Uttar Pradesh were up in arms against the 2023 exam results, alleging discrepancies in the evaluation of answer sheets by the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC).
This followed a plea filed by a candidate before the Allahabad High Court, alleging the exchange of main answer sheets and seeking a revaluation of the results.
After taking the judicial examination in May 2023, the petitioner Shravan Pandey noticed discrepancies in his results when the marks were released in November 2023. On filing a Right to Information (RTI) application in January 2024, he found that he had scored only 47/200 in English.
Upon inspecting his answer sheets in May, he realised that the English script didn't match his handwriting, and his Hindi script answers were struck off on the final pages.
In an affidavit submitted to the High Court, the UPPSC admitted that around 50 answer sheets from the August 2023 mains exam had been exchanged. During its investigation, the UPPSC identified five officials as guilty and suspended three of them.
The exchange of answer sheets in the exam, discovered only a year after the results were declared, raises serious concerns about the integrity of such examinations conducted over the years.
With Uttar Pradesh consistently attracting the highest number of candidates for judiciary exams, such incidents are deeply disheartening.
In an interview, petitioner Shravan Pandey urged that future judicial exams be conducted by the Allahabad High Court instead of the State Commission.
The matter is still pending before the Allahabad High Court.
Madhya Pradesh Civil Judge, Junior Division (Entry Level) Exam, 2022
Status: Revised results of the prelims exam awaited
Last update: Appeal against High Court decision pending in Supreme Court
Delay period: Almost 11 months
The High Court had introduced a new eligibility requirement under Rule 7(g) of the Madhya Pradesh Judicial Service (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1994, which mandates aspirants to have three years of legal practice to apply for entry-level positions in the lower judiciary.
This rule was challenged before the High Court, where the petitioners requested permission to apply for the exam provisionally. However, the High Court denied their request, prompting them to approach the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court ultimately granted interim relief to the aspirants, allowing them to apply for the civil judge examination. The preliminary examination was conducted in January 2024, and the results were declared shortly after. Subsequently, the main examination was held for the candidates who had qualified the preliminary exam.
Meanwhile, the amended rules were upheld by both the High Court and the Supreme Court.
In view of the same, a plea was moved before the High Court seeking revaluation of preliminary exam result. The petitioners argued that if ineligible candidates were excluded at the preliminary exam stage, the cut-off would have decreased, enabling them to qualify. It was further argued that the failure to follow amended eligibility rules at the preliminary stage could allow ineligible candidates to progress in recruitment and potentially secure appointments.
The High Court at first dismissed the plea. However, in review, it allowed the plea noting that the previous order dismissing the plea contained palpable errors, particularly regarding the misconception of the cut-off marks.
The Court said that entire recruitment process, including the preliminary examination, was subject to the outcome of the earlier petitions challenging the amended rule. With the amended rules being upheld by both the High Court and the Supreme Court, the Court stated that the process should have included weeding out ineligible candidates at every stage, starting with the preliminary examination.
Therefore, the High Court allowed the review plea on June 13, 2024 and noted that while the main examination had already been conducted, the same should not prevent a review of the process at the preliminary examination stage, especially when it was evident that the process deviated from the amended rules.
In compliance with its order dated June 13, 2024, the High Court issued a notification directing candidates who appeared in the January preliminary exam and secured minimum qualifying marks or above in their category to submit an online proforma along with relevant documents.
The review order was challenged before the Supreme Court and is still pending. The matter is likely be heard in January 2025.
Since then, no updates regarding the revised preliminary results or the mains exam results for candidates selected in the initial list have been provided on the website.
Goa Judicial Services Exam, 2024
Status: Results of preliminary exam still awaited
Last Update: No update on official website
Delay Period: 3 months
On March 15, 2024, the Bombay High Court (Goa Bench) advertised 11 posts (10+1) for civil judge positions, stating that applications should be submitted on or before April 16, 2024. This date was later extended to April 30.
After a wait of nearly four months, on August 26, the list of accepted candidates was finally declared. Surprisingly, just three days later, the date of the exam was announced, leaving candidates with minimal preparation time, as the exam was previously scheduled for September 22, 2024.
Notably, there was no mention of any prelims or mains exams and the notification mentioned only a single-stage examination.
The exam was conducted on September 22. However, as of today, there has been no update on the results or the next steps in the selection process. Adding to the confusion, on June 15, 2024 - before the results of the previous exam - another advertisement was released to fill 4 additional civil judge posts.
Talking to Bar & Bench, a candidate who appeared for the exam this year said,
"In 2015, I appeared directly for the mains without prelims and cleared it. In 2024, despite the ad mentioning prelims, the High Court conducted the mains directly again. The bigger issue, however, is the lack of a defined timeline for key steps like declaring accepted applications, scheduling exams, and announcing results. For 11 posts and 178 candidates, taking over 80 days for basic processes is unreasonable."
Other States that recently conducted judicial exams include Haryana, Bihar, Rajasthan and Karnataka.
In Haryana, the exam was held only after the Supreme Court intervened last year and directed the State government to take necessary steps to fill the 175 junior civil judge posts lying vacant in the subordinate judiciary without further delay. The order was passed after the State of Haryana filed an intervention application (IA) before the Supreme Court in an ongoing case, Malik Mazhar Sultan v UP Public Service Commission.
In its application, the State government had requested that the recruitment of civil judges, junior division be conducted by the Haryana Public Service Commission according to rules in Part C of the Punjab Civil Service (Judicial Branch) Rules of 1951 (applicable to the State of Haryana).
As per the plea, there were 241 vacancies in these posts. However, the posts were not advertised due to differences between the State government and the High Court about the manner of holding examinations.
In Bihar, the judicial exam process concluded in November 2024, more than a year after the preliminary exam was conducted in June 2023.
On the other hand, the State of Rajasthan completed the process within just a few months.
In Karnataka, the recruitment process for 56 civil judge posts in 2022 was notified on April 22, 2022, and the preliminary exam was conducted on July 17, 2022, with results were declared on August 1, 2022.
Interviews were held between January 17 and January 30, 2023 and the final selection list was released on August 19, 2023.
"Despite the process being conducted for 56 posts, only 38 candidates were appointed. A similar situation occurred in an earlier recruitment drive where, out of 57 advertised positions, only 32 were filled," an aspirant said.
"The Karnataka judiciary, once more efficient than KPSC-KAS, now faces similar concerns. For 56 Civil Judge posts, only 80 out of 900 candidates who appeared for mains were shortlisted for interviews, risking vacant positions and potential judicial backlogs," they added.
As the delays persist, candidates who prepare for years are left in the lurch. These candidates often forego other work opportunities as they wait for the recruitment process to conclude. In many cases, they cross the age eligibility limit while awaiting the results.
The uncertainty surrounding these exams and the resultant mental stress often deter law graduates from seeing the judiciary as a viable career option.
The need of the hour is for the authorities to have a solid plan, perhaps by using technology, to conduct these exams smoothly, and to ensure strict adherence to timelines.
Meanwhile, the vacancies in the lower judiciary continue to grow and add to the burgeoning number of pending cases.