Ravikumar Dhansukhlal Maheta vs. High Court Of Gujarat

ITEM NO.14 COURT NO.1 SECTION X

S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

Writ Petition (Civil) No.432/2023

RAVIKUMAR DHANSUKHLAL MAHETA & ANR. Petitioner(s)

VERSUS

HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT & ORS. Respondent(s)

(With IA No.69227/2023-STAY APPLICATION, IA No.199082/2023 – CLARIFICATION/DIRECTION, IA No.141989/2023 - INTERLOCUTARY APPLICATION, IA No.126785/2023 - INTERVENTION APPLICATION, IA No.81822/2023 – INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT, IA No.165712/2023 – INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT, IA No.80862/2023 - PERMISSION TO PLACE ON RECORD SUBSEQUENT FACTS, IA No.104082/2023 - RECALLING THE COURTS ORDER, IA No.69227/2023 - STAY APPLICATION and IA No.104088/2023 - VACATING STAY)

Date : 26-04-2024 These matters were called on for hearing today.

CORAM :

HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE J.B. PARDIWALA HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MANOJ MISRA

For Petitioner(s)

Mr. Purvish Jitendra Malkan, AOR

Mr. P.S. Patwalia, Sr. Adv. Mr. Vivek Jain, AOR Mr. Kishan Chakawala, Adv. Mr. Akshay Sahay, Adv. Mr. Rajat Jain, Adv. Mr. Sadiq Noor, Adv. Mr. Mehul Prasad, Adv.

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Ms. Priyanka S., Adv. For Respondent(s) Mr. V. Giri, Sr. Adv. Ms. Vishakha, AOR Ms. Vishwaja Rao, Adv. Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR Ms. Meenakshi Arora, Sr. Adv. Ms. Mayuri Raghuvanshi, AOR Mr. Vyom Raghuvanshi, Adv. Ms. Akanksha Rathore, Adv. Mr. Chandratanay Chaube, Adv. Mr. Dushyant Dave, Sr. Adv. Mr. Shashank Shekhar Singh, Adv. Mr. Akshat Malpani, Adv. Ms. Ayushi Gaur, Adv. Mr. Sandeep Kumar Jha, AOR Mr. Jayesh Gaurav, Adv. Mr. Monarch K. Pandya, Adv. Mr. Ishwar Chandra Roy, Adv. Ms. Diksha Ojha, Adv. Mr. Ranjan Nikhil Dharnidhar, AOR Mr. Shyam Divan, Sr. Adv. Ms. Nidhi Khanna, AOR Mr. Sudipto Sircar, Adv. Mr. Kamal Mohan Gupta, AOR Mr. Rajeev Kumar Bansal, AOR Mr. Parvinder, Adv. Mr. Ganesh Barowalia, Adv. Mr. Rajesh Sonthalia, Adv. Mr. Shekher Kaushik, Adv. Mr. Vidya Sagar, Adv. Mr. Akshay K.ghai, Adv. Mr. Sanjeev Bansal, Adv. Mr. Arpit Gupta, AOR Mr. Aditya Choksi, Adv.

UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following O R D E R

• 1 The feeder cadre for the post of Additional District and Sessions Judges consists of persons in the cadre of Civil Judge Senior Division. Rule 5(1) of the Gujarat State Judicial Service Rules 2005 provides that the 65% promotional quota shall be filled up on the basis of the "principle of merit-cum-seniority and passing a suitability test". A total of 444 candidates forms part of the feeder cadre.

• 2 In terms of Rule 5(3) of the 2005 Rules, Civil Judges Senior Division with a minimum of two years of qualifying service are eligible for being considered against the 65% promotional quota. 413 candidates out of 444 in the feeder cadre were found to fulfill the two years' qualifying service requirement.

• 3 Since there were 68 notified vacancies, the zone of consideration was drawn up to consist of 205 persons (68X3+1). This Court is apprised of the fact that a list of 205 Judicial Officers in the cadre of Civil Judge Senior Division was appended to the advertisement which was issued by the High Court. From the zone of consideration of 205 candidates, the High Court, it appears, drew up a list of Judicial Officers on the basis of seniority in the cadre of Civil Judge Senior Division.

• 4 Candidates who secured a minimum of 40% marks in the written examination together with a score of 50% in the aggregate in each component of the suitability test were considered suitable for promotion. On this basis, it was found that 175 candidates had cleared the suitability test.

• 5 In order to facilitate a decision in these proceedings, an affidavit should be filed by the Registrar General of the High Court of Gujarat on the following two questions:

• (i) Whether the zone of consideration containing 205 Judges was prepared on the basis of seniority; in other words, whether the senior most 205 candidates were included in the zone of consideration; and

• (ii) Whether the test of seniority was applied by the High Court at two distinct stages of the selection process – (a) at the stage of the preparation of the zone of consideration; and (b) at the stage of preparing the final select list.

• 6 Since this Court is in the midst of the hearing of the proceedings, the affidavit as directed above, shall be filed by 5 pm on 28 April 2024.

• 7 List the Petition at 2 pm on 29 April 2024.

(CHETAN KUMAR) (SAROJ KUMARI GAUR) A.R.-cum-P.S. Assistant Registrar