SC: Judicial Officers can't be considered for Direct Recruitment as District Judges under quota for Bar

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of India has pronounced its judgement regarding the criteria of Bar quota for the selection of District Judges after reserving orders previously on Jan 16. 

The verdict came out in case titled as Dheeraj More v. Hon'ble High Court of Delhi.

The Bench comprising of Justice Arun Mishra, Justice Vineet Saran, and Justice S Ravindra Bhat pronounced:

Why subordinate Judicial Officers not eligible?

The Court stated that the quota earmarked exclusively for the members of the Bar requires a minimum continuous practice of seven years and thus subordinate Judicial Officers aren't eligible for applying for direct recruitment.

The Bench referred to Article 233 of the Constitution of India which deals with Direct Recruitment, Justice Arun Mishra said that only practicing Lawyers with min seven years of practice can apply for the post, which is meant "exclusively" for members of the Bar.

Along with the verdict pronounced the question of interpretation of Article 233 was referred to a larger Bench by a Division Bench of Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Mohan M Shantanagoudar in the year, 2018.