‘Eliminated’ District Judges Unfit To Be PSC Member: Madras HC [Read Judgment]

The Madras High Court, in the judgment by which it has quashed the appointment of 11 members of the Tamil Nadu State Public Service Commission, has also made some important observations vis-à-vis the suitability of district judges, who have been eliminated as not fit for an extended tenure, for the post of a member of the State Public Service Commission.

The high court held that such district judges who were not allowed by the high court to continue the service beyond the age of 58 years would be ineligible to hold the constitutional post of a member of the State Public Service Commission.

In the instant case, one of the members appointed in PSC was a district judge, V Ramamurthy, who was not allowed to continue in service beyond the age of 58. The court observed: “He, having been eliminated as not fit for an extended tenure, could not have been found fit for appointment to the post of the august office of a Member of the State Public Service Commission.”

The court further added: “Could a person be treated as eligible for appointment to the post of a Member of the State Public Service Commission when he has been found unfit to continue as a District Judge and weeded out of service? Our view would be that he was neither eligible nor suitable, as eligibility cannot be in vacuum.”

Read the Judgment here.