Supreme Court trims law practice requirement to 1 year for judicial service

The Supreme Court on Friday (August 21, 2026) upheld its May 2025 judgment mandating legal practice to apply for entry into judicial service, but shortened the required experience from three years to one.

In a majority judgment of 2:1, Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice A.G. Masih said successful applicants with a year’s legal practice under their belt would undergo a one-year intensive training at the State judicial academy concerned. This would be followed by a final year of law clerkship with senior judicial officers and High Court judges.

The judgment came in review petitions filed against the May 2025 verdict.

The majority opinion, authored by Chief Justice Kant, noted that a year has already passed since the May 2025 judgment. Candidates who had applied for the post of Civil Judge (Junior Division) in the interregnum would be ‘deemed’ to have completed the required one year of active legal practice. They would not be asked to furnish ‘certificates of proof of practice’.

Those among them who clear the exams would be designated as trainee judicial officers and will undergo the compulsory one-year training at the academy, followed by a second year of structured law clerkship. This will involve six months under a Principal District/District and Sessions Judge and the remaining half of the year with a sitting High Court judge of the State concerned.

The supervising High Court judges would submit reasoned evaluation reports. If found favourable, the trainees would be appointed as regular judicial officers with full pay and service benefits.

This arrangement, which would benefit candidates, who had applied during the transitional period while the review of the May 2025 judgment was still pending, will be operative till March 31, 2027.

But the rule of one-year prior legal practice would come into force in earnest from April 1, 2027.

Participation in effective judicial proceedings

From this date, only candidates who can produce the ‘certificate of proof of practice’ would be eligible to apply for appointment as Civil Judge (Junior Division). This certificate would be issued only if there are records showing the “candidate’s presence and participation in effective judicial proceedings along with a senior member of the Bar with at least 10 years’ practice or otherwise”.

On recruitment, the candidate would undergo the necessary two years of academy training and law clerkship before being considered for appointment as a regular judicial officer.

The majority judgment said the scheme would run a course of five years, after which it would be reviewed on its efficacy.

Justice Vinod Chandran, who was part of the Bench which delivered the May 2025 judgment, dissented with the majority view. He dismissed the review petitions.

“Experience at the Bar is essential for students right out of college; steeped in academics, who should have a feel of the affairs of man and the travails of a litigant, before deciding their destinies,” Justice Chandran observed.