The Madras High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking direction to the (Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission and The Registrar General, Madras High Court) first and second respondents to consider the representation of the petitioner dated 16.06.2023 and postpone the time line for submission of the application to the post of “Civil Judge” from 30.06.2023 to some other date facilitating the participation of the fresh law graduates in the selection process for the post of “Civil Judge” under the Notification dated 01.6.2023 issued by the 1 st respondent and pass orders to that effect within a time frame fixed by the High Court.
The PIL has been filed by Dr.S.K.Kharventhan.
The counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petition is filed in the nature of public interest so as to bring it to the notice of the Court that the last date fixed for submission of the application as 30.06.2023 for the post of Civil Judge is required to be extended for the reason that about 24 colleges affiliated to respondent No.3 (The Registrar, Dr.Ambedkar Law University , Chennai) declared the result only on 30.06.2023, as such, it is not possible for all the candidates to submit the application on or before 30.06.2023. In view of that, the request is made to extend the date for filing the application.
While considering the PIL , the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay V.Gangapurwala and Justice P.D.Audikesavalu noted that for fresh law graduates also, the condition is that the candidates must have obtained bachelor’s degree of law within a period of three years prior to the date of notification. The candidate did not possess the necessary qualification as on the date of notification.
“Moreover, the present matter would tantamount to a service matter. The interested and aggrieved persons can approach the Court. In service jurisprudence, public interest litigation is unheard of except the writ of quo warranto in exceptional cases’, the Bench observed.