Srinagar: The High Court on Wednesday dismissed a writ petition by scores of candidates seeking age relaxation for the posts of civil judges.
They had argued that the government had arbitrarily withdrawn the advertisement notice for the posts in 2019 when they had applied for it, but have by now crossed the upper-age limit.
Justices Puneet Gupta and Sindhu Sharma found that the petition is without merit and said that there is no provision for relaxation in minimum or upper age limit in the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Service (Judicial) Recruitment Rules, 1967.
“Rule 13 of Delhi Judicial Services provides that the examination will be held by the High Court in Delhi, preferably once a year, subject to vacancy. This rule is different from Rule 10 of the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Service (Judicial) Recruitment Rules, 1967, which provides that the examination for selection of candidates shall as far as practicable be held annually,” they said.
It further said that the process of selection is already underway, and the ensuing examination is to be held on October 08, 2023. All the preparations for it have been made, and permitting the petition at this stage will, in any case, set at naught the entire process, the bench added.
The petition filed against the High Court of J&K and Ladakh, Union Territory of J&K and others said that the J&K Public Service Commission (PSC) invited applications for filling up 69 posts of Civil Judge (Junior Division) in Subordinate Judiciary vide a notification on August 27, 2023. The prescribed age for the candidates to participate in the recruitment process, as per the notification, is minimum 18 years and maximum 35 years as on 1st of January, 2023.
The petitioners aggrieved by the notification say that it has ignored the fact that they had earlier applied pursuant to Notification No. PSC/Exam/2018-19/14 dated 09.10.2019 and “are entitled to one-time age relaxation as they have become overage”.
The contention of the petitioners is that the JKPSC in the year 2019, invited applications for 24 posts of Civil Judge. The petitioners at that point of time were fulfilling the requisite eligibility criteria and had responded to the notification, but before the last date of receipt of applications, these posts were withdrawn vide notification dated 24.10.2019.
They submitted that the notification dated 27.08.2023 issued by PSC for filing up 69 posts of Civil Judge includes the 24 posts advertised vide notification dated 09.10.2019. But the petitioners are now ineligible to participate in the present selection process for the aforesaid 69 posts as they have become overage.
They also pleaded that there was no recruitment process undertaken by the respondents for selection to the post of Civil Judges from 2020 to 2022. No opportunity was available to the petitioners to participate/compete in the selection process while they were within the prescribed upper age limit. “As such, we are entitled to one-time age relaxation to enable us to participate in the selection process,” they said.
In support of their contention, the petitioners also placed reliance on a notification bearing No. GAD-MTG0RIV/200/2021-09- GAD dated 15.02.2022 issued by the General Administration Department, granting ‘one-time age relaxation’ to overage candidates desirous for applying against the withdrawn posts.
As per the notification, the candidates who had earlier applied against the withdrawn posts were deemed to be eligible in terms of the upper age limit, if they apply for the said posts.
The judges after hearing the petitioners and the respondents said “the selection for the post of Civil Judge (Junior Division) was conducted in the year 2009, 2012, 2013, 2017 and 2018 since 2008 till date. The petitioners being eligible at that time also, had the opportunity to participate in the aforementioned selection process. The petitioners, thus, cannot seek relaxation as a matter of right, if they are otherwise not eligible merely because they could not participate in the selection process in the year 2019, when the posts were withdrawn”.
They held that it was not practicable for the respondents to hold the examinations for the aforesaid posts as there were certain amendments which were necessitated in the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Service (Judicial) Recruitment Rules, 1967, in view of the promulgation of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019.
