In Brief
A candidate belonging to the Scheduled Caste community applied for appointment as a Civil Judge following a competitive examination. The High Court allowed his writ petition challenging the Rajasthan High Court's committee decision to reject his appointment based on four criminal FIRs registered against him, some involving serious offences under Sections 323 and 324 IPC. The Supreme Court reversed the High Court's judgment, holding that while the candidate did not suppress information (he voluntarily disclosed the cases), the committee properly exercised its discretion in assessing fitness for a sensitive judicial post. The Court emphasised that judicial appointments demand the highest standards of character and fitness, and that acquittals based on compromise and hostile witnesses (not honourable acquittals) do not erase concerns about suitability, especially when the candidate was nearly 30 years old at the time of serious alleged offences.
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