SC cuts 3-year legal practice to one year for entry-level judicial exam

The Supreme Court on Friday reduced the mandatory legal practice requirement for law graduates seeking to appear in entry-level judicial service examinations from three years to one year, modifying its May 2025 verdict. A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and comprising Justices AG Masih and K Vinod Chandran delivered the decision by a 2:1 majority while dismissing review petitions challenging the earlier ruling.
The Bench said that candidates appearing for judicial service examinations notified between 25th May 2025 and 31st March 2027 would remain eligible regardless of prior experience. However, candidates selected through these examinations will initially be appointed as trainee judicial officers and will have to undergo one year of training at a judicial academy, followed by another year of structured clerkship. On May 20 last year, the top court had barred fresh law graduates from appearing in the entry-level judicial services examination, fixing a minimum three-year law practice criterion.
Such candidates, upon selection, will be appointed only as trainee judicial officers for one year and will have to complete another year of structured clerkship, it said. For examinations notified after April 1, 2027, the new arrangement will apply, the court said. The verdict came on a batch of review petitions challenging the May 2025 judgment, which mandated three years of legal practice for candidates seeking direct recruitment to the judicial service as Civil Judges (Junior Division).It clarified that the earlier decision did not require reconsideration on the aspect of the requirement for prior experience.