Q. Consider the following statements:
- A person who has held office as a permanent as a permanent Judge of a High Court cannot plead or act in any court or before any authority in India except the Supreme Court
- A person is not qualified for appointment as a Judge of a High Court in India unless he has for at least five years held a judicial office in the territory of India
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer:
Neither 1 nor 2
Notes: First statement is incorrect. The constitution says that once a high court judge has retired, he cannot practice law in any court or before any authority in India except the Supreme Court and the other High Courts. This means that a retired High Court judge cannot practice in lower courts and same high court from which he has retired. This also implies that at present, the Constitution neither prohibits judges of the Supreme Court or the High Court from taking any post-retirement job nor restricts the power of the government to appoint any retired judges to commissions and/or tribunals. An interesting thing is that government generally uses the retired higher judiciary judges as heads of various commissions. There has been a demand from certain sections of the society that there should be a "cool off " period of two years for the retired judges before they are installed in other offices. Second statement is also incorrect. Article 217 says, a person shall not be qualified for appointment as a Judge of a High Court unless he is a citizen of India and has for at least ten years held a judicial office in the territory of India; or has for at least ten years been an advocate of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession.