Chhattisgarh High Court Declines Plea By Public Prosecutors, APPs Challenging Denial Of Judiciary Exam Admit Card Over Non-Enrolment With Bar

The Chhattisgarh High Court dismissed writ petitions filed by numerous candidates—including Public Prosecutors and Assistant Public Prosecutors—challenging the State Public Service Commission’s decision not to issue admit cards for the Civil Judge (Junior Division) Examination-2024. The denial was based on non-enrolment with a Bar Council at the time the advertisement for the exam was issued. Though many candidates satisfied other eligibility criteria and some had been permitted to apply earlier, the Court upheld the requirement of Bar-Council enrolment as valid precondition, pointing out that advertisements had explicitly made this mandatory. The Court found no grounds to relax that requirement or grant retrospective concessions. It emphasized the importance of clarifying eligibility rules before advertisement, for fairness and predictability. The decision confirms that recruitment rules and eligibility criteria fixed in advertisement are binding; candidates not meeting all requirements at that moment cannot later claim exemption merely because they may satisfy them afterwards.