In Brief
Two Senior Civil Judges challenged the High Court of Gujarat's select list for promotion to District Judge (65% quota), alleging violation of Article 14. The Court held that Gujarat's method violated the merit-cum-seniority principle mandated by statutory rules and the Supreme Court's All India Judges' Association decision. Gujarat used merit only to set a 50% minimum threshold, then selected candidates solely by seniority—effectively applying seniority-cum-merit. The Court found that candidates with higher marks (148.5 and 135.5 out of 200) were rejected while lower-scoring candidates (101 marks) were promoted. The Court struck down the select list and notification, directing promotees to return to original posts, except those ranking in the top 68 on merit. It stayed further implementation pending final hearing before the Chief Justice's bench.
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