The Supreme Court on Wednesday, November 4 refused to grant serving court employees a one-time relaxation from the mandatory legal practice requirement for recruitment to the entry-level judicial services, Bar and Bench and LiveLaw reported.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana dismissed applications filed by 21 court employees from Karnataka who had sought the benefit of the relaxation the Court had allowed for law graduates in its Bhumika Trust judgment. "You cannot make judicial service a promotional post for other cadres," the Chief Justice said, according to both reports.

Source: Bar and Bench

Declining the plea, the Chief Justice added: "As of now, we would not like to relax this condition. No reason to modify our judgment. Dismissed." The application had been filed through advocate-on-record Agam Sharma, LiveLaw reported.

Source: LiveLaw

How the practice rule reached this point

The dispute traces back to the Supreme Court's May 20, 2025 judgment in the All India Judges Association case, which restored a requirement of three years' legal practice for entry-level judicial service recruitment. That position was later modified in Bhumika Trust: law graduates applying under recruitment notifications issued up to March 31, 2027 can enter without prior practice, while later recruitment will require one year of actual practice at the Bar, along with additional training.

The Karnataka Judicial Service (Recruitment) Rules, 2004 had been amended in 2011 to let certain in-service candidates apply, but on March 12, 2026 the State amended the rules again to exclude in-service candidates from eligibility for the post of Civil Judge. The 21 court staff had asked the Supreme Court to extend the Bhumika Trust relaxation to them as well; with Wednesday's dismissal, the practice condition stands unchanged for court employees.