Must a law graduate complete three years of practice at the Bar to become a Civil Judge?

The requirement itself was not disturbed, but the way it may be satisfied was. Whether a person aspiring to become a Civil Judge should have some familiarity with the functioning of courts is answered in the affirmative, as an indispensable precondition. Whether it must come through conventional practice at the Bar admits of a different answer, since practical exposure and judicial training may be acquired through a combination of professional and institutional experience.

Constitution of India — Art. 233(2) — All India Judges' Association — Civil Judge (Junior Division) — Three-year practice requirement — Trainee Judicial Officer — State Judicial Academy — Law Clerkship — Certificate of Practice — Review — Judicial service — Recruitment — Familiarity with the functioning of courts — Held: Whether a person aspiring to become a Civil Judge should have some familiarity with the functioning of courts is answered in the affirmative. Whether it must come through conventional practice at the Bar admits of a different answer. (¶59) Review — Scope of interference with a coordinate Bench — Held further: It does not substitute its assessment for that of the Bench which rendered the Judgment under Review on the desirability of practical experience, nor hold the three-year requirement inherently unreasonable. The intervention is directed to its enforcement and implementation. (¶63) Judicial service — Institutional training and Law Clerkship — Equivalence to practice — Held further: In the transitional period all law graduates are eligible, deemed to have completed one year of active practice. A year of intensive training at a State Judicial Academy and a year of Law Clerkship each count as practice. (¶69, 73) Judicial service — Recruitment after 01.04.2027 — One year of actual practice — Held further: For notification(s) issued on or after 01.04.2027 candidates must possess at least one year of actual practice, verified through a Certificate of Practice. The scheme remains in force for five years; the Judgment under Review stands modified. (¶74, 79, 82)

One judgment a day. That's the whole habit.

Read the full text of Bhumika Trust v. Union of India and Others — and get the Supreme Court's output as a five-minute daily read, with plain-language headnotes and the questions each judgment settles.

Free forever plan · 30 seconds · data stays in India