New Delhi, She came to the Supreme Court seeking re-evaluation of her paper in the examination for joining the judicial services as a judge. What she got instead was a rejection – and a frank admission from the Chief Justice that he too had wanted to join the judicial services in his youth but was advised by a senior judge to become a lawyer instead.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalia Bagchi on Friday rejected the petition filed by Prerna Gupta, a judicial services aspirant.
While Gupta was pressing her case, the ICJ intervened and said: “Allow me to share my personal story and I hope you will go happily because we cannot allow your application.”
He recounted his time as a final year law student in 1984 when he wanted to become a judicial officer. As per the requirements, he successfully passed the written test and was scheduled to appear for the interview.
Judicial Services is one of the two ways to become a judge after initially joining as a Magistrate in a District Court and then rising through the ranks to become a Judge of a High Court and possibly the Supreme Court.
The other way is to join the Bar Association, which means becoming a lawyer, and after building your reputation you are selected by the Bar Association to become a high-level judge.
By the time the CJI exam results came out, he had started practicing in the Punjab and Haryana High Court when he was called for the interview.
The most senior judge on the interview panel happened to be a judge before whom two important matters had recently been discussed.
“One case was Sunita Rani v Baldev Raj, where he allowed my appeal in a matrimonial case and set aside the divorce decree passed by the district judge on the grounds of schizophrenia,” he noted.
Before the interview, the young judge summoned Surya Kant to his room and asked him: “Do you want to become a judicial officer?”
“I said yes.” He immediately said: Get out of the room.
The courtroom fell silent as the examining magistrate described his initial grief.
“I walked out shaking. All my dreams were shattered. I thought he ignored me and my career was over,” the CJI said.
But the story took a different turn the next day, as the judge summoned him again, and this time gave him advice that would change the course of his life.
“He said, ‘If you want to become one, you are welcome,’” recalls Justice Surya Kant. “But my advice is, don’t become a judicial employee. The Bar Association is waiting for you.”
The CJI said he decided to skip his interview and did not initially tell his parents, fearing to disappoint them, and instead chose to devote himself to his practice as a lawyer.
“Now tell me did you make a bad or bad decision,” the CJI asked and the litigating lawyer left the court with a smile on her face even though her case was dismissed.
“The Bar has a lot to offer,” Justice Surya Kant said, encouraging the petitioner to look to the future rather than focus on re-evaluating one piece of paper.
This article was generated from an automated news feed without any modifications to the text.
