Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Madhya Pradesh High Court has put a stay on the advertisement for Civil Judge Recruitment 2022, dated November 17, 2023, and the corrigendum dated February 17, 2024. The Law Department and High Court Administration have been issued notices, and the advertisement has been stayed.

The petition was heard on Friday by a division bench of Chief Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Vivek Jain. The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the constitutionality of the advertisement was filed by the Advocate Union for Democracy and Social Justice.

The PIL raised concern regarding the legality of not providing relaxation in marks for OBC, SC, and ST candidates in the preliminary and main exams. The advertisement called for recruitment for 195 posts, including 61 new positions and 134 backlog posts.

However, among the backlog, 17 unreserved posts were also listed. Senior advocate Rameshwar Singh Thakur, representing the petitioner, argued that the Madhya Pradesh Civil Judge Recruitment Examination Rules 1994 and its June 2023 amendment included provisions for relaxation in marks for reserved categories, as per Section 4-A of the Reservation Act 1994 and Article 335 of the Constitution.

However, the advertisement failed to provide this concession, he stated.