In Brief
The respondent, belonging to a Scheduled Caste category, was denied appointment as a Civil Judge despite qualifying in the competitive examination. The denial was based on four criminal cases registered against him involving charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (Sections 323, 324, 341, etc.). In two cases he was acquitted on compromise, and in two others, final reports were filed. The High Court allowed his writ petition, holding that the offences were not serious in nature and appointments should not be denied casually. The Supreme Court reversed this, holding that the employer (High Court Committee) has discretion to assess suitability based on antecedents, and the decision-making process, which considered the nature of offences, manner of acquittals (based on compromise and hostile witnesses), and the criticality of the judicial post, was not flawed and should not have been interfered with in judicial review.
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.