High Court clears way for selection of Junior Civil Judges

A two judge bench of the High Court at Hyderabad comprising acting Chief Justice Dilip Bosale and Justice S V Bhatt on Friday dismissed a batch of writ pleas and a PIL on the action of continuing with the process of selection of Junior Civil Judges after the bifurcation of the State on the basis of its earlier notification.

Satyam Reddy, senior advocate, had moved a PIL contending that the recruitment to the posts of junior civil judges must await the bifurcation of the judiciary of the erstwhile State as it would reflect on vacancies, social roster, etc.

The government of Telangana pointed out that it had made its rules with retrospective effect and therefore the notification on the basis of which the recruitment was being carried out would have no legal basis.

Rejecting the contentions, the bench ruled that the making of the rules was without consultation with the judicial wing of the State and thus opposed to the basic structure of the constitution.

The argument that the recruitment would have to await the bifurcation of the judiciary was also rejected by pointing out to the fact that the apex court had permitted the ongoing selections.

The bench said the recruitment process should be completed from the stage at which it was stopped and that the challenge to the notification or the very process was not acceptable.