Period Of Service As Ad-hoc Judge Will Not Count For Seniority: SC Dismisses Review Petitions Filed By Judicial Officers [Read Order]

The Supreme Court has dismissed the review petitions filed against its judgment which held that the period of service as an adhoc judge will not count for the seniority of District Judge.

"All the submissions advanced in said Writ Petition and connected matters were dealt with in detail by this Court in its Judgment dated 29.04.2020. We have gone through the Review Petition and do not find any error apparent on record to justify interference in the Review Jurisdiction. This Review Petition is dismissed ", said the bench comprising of Justices UU Lalit and Vineet Saran.

In April this year, the Supreme Court had disposed of a batch of writ petitions including by Rajasthan Judicial Service Officers Association challenging the seniority list prepared by the Rajasthan High Court on March 15, 2019. They sought for reckoning their services as Additional District and Sessions Judges in Fast Track court for determining the seniority as District Judge.

The court considered the issue whether the judicial officers promoted on ad-hoc basis as Additional District and Sessions Judges to man the Fast Track Courts in the State and who were substantively appointed to the Cadre of the District Judge, are entitled to seniority from the date of their initial ad-hoc promotion? After referring to various precedents on this aspect, the bench observed that the reckonable date has to be the date when substantive appointment is made and not from the date of the initial ad-hoc appointment or promotion.

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