Jammu- The High Court of J&K and Ladakh on Wednesday dismissed a petition, challenging the upper age bar of 35 years on 69 posts of Civil Judge (Junior Division) in Subordinate Judiciary, the prelims examination for which is scheduled to be held on ensuing Sunday.
Turning down the plea filed by 23 aspirants, a division bench of Justices Sindhu Sharma and Puneet Gupta underlined that it was well settled that while participating in the recruitment process, a candidate must possess the prescribed eligibility. “Unless there is any express provision to the contrary, there cannot be any relaxation in the requisite eligibility criteria,” the court said.
Admittedly, the court said, there is no provision for relaxation in minimum or upper age limit in the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Service (Judicial) Recruitment Rules, 1967.
“Reliance has been placed on the judgment of (High Court of Delhi vs. Devina Sharma (2022), which is not applicable to the facts and circumstances of the present case. 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 position. 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.”
The court said that the process of selection was already underway and the ensuing examination is to be held on October 8 and all the preparation for the same have been made. “Permitting the petitioner at this stage will, in any case, set at naught the entire process,” the court said and dismissed the petition.
The Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission invited applications for filling up 69 posts of Civil Judge (Junior Division) in Subordinate Judiciary vide a notification on August 27. The last date for receipt of the online applications was September 17 and the preliminary examination is scheduled for Sunday and the mains examination on November 8 to 19 this year.
The prescribed age for the candidates to participate in the recruitment process, as per the notification, was minimum 18 years and maximum 35 years as on 1st of January, 2023.
The petitioners had contended that JKPSC in the year 2019 had invited applications for 24 posts of Civil Judge (Junior Division)/Munsiff but before the last date of receipt of application these posts were withdrawn on 24 October 2019. They submitted that notification dated August 27 includes the 24 posts advertised vide notification dated 9 October 2019, but they are now ineligible to participate in the present selection process as they have become overage.
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