Jabalpur High Court grants relief in recruitment:Only 47 selected for 192 civil judge posts, with no appointments made on 121 ST vacancies

The Madhya Pradesh High Court, Jabalpur, has taken a strict stance on the low selection of reserved category candidates in the Civil Judge Recruitment 2022. The Court has ordered the examination cell to create a new revised list by providing relaxation in minimum marks for SC and ST candidates. The Court has ordered to consider a minimum of 45% marks for SC and 40% for ST in the main examination. Relaxation will also be given in the minimum 20 marks for the interview. The revised list will be presented to the Court in the next hearing. It was revealed that out of 191 posts, not a single ST candidate was selected, while only one candidate from the SC category was selected. The Court termed the vacant 121 ST posts as ‘extremely serious’. Advocates Rameshwar Singh Thakur and Pushpendra Shah, on behalf of the petitioner, argued that the examination cell did not properly follow the reservation policy. Giving backlog posts to the unreserved category, not providing relaxation in minimum eligibility, and giving low marks in interviews indicates discrimination. Meanwhile, State Congress President Jitu Patwari also raised questions, saying that the selection of only 47 candidates instead of 191 posts in the Civil Judge examination results indicates a serious flaw in the system. The reserved posts for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category could not be filled. As a state, this is disappointing. The government has proven completely unsuccessful in uplifting the deprived class. We are not questioning the judiciary or reservation, but the results show that the reserved category still does not have access to resources and opportunities for learning and preparation. The state will have to increase its efforts to provide better opportunities to the deprived community. The result of MP Civil Judge, Junior Division (Entry Level) 2022 was recently declared. Out of 192 posts, only 47 candidates were selected in this exam. Among them, Bhamini Rathi from Indore topped in MP. She secured 291.83 marks out of 450 in written and interview. Harpreet Kaur Parihar from Guna stood second. She secured 281.83 marks. Riya Mandhania stood third, securing 281.50 marks. Why were so many posts vacant this time, what was the reason behind it? Bhaskar spoke to selected candidates and lawyers regarding this and also understood the exam pattern. Read this report First, let’s talk about the posts Now, know what the petition is about One reason cited for not being selected Advocate Mohar Singh states that this time the exam was quite difficult. More questions were related to court judgments than laws. Due to this, candidates faced difficulties in answering. The optional exam was also difficult, due to which fewer candidates could reach the main examination. It was also necessary to score 50% marks in the main examination. Most students could not touch the 50% mark and were eliminated early. Now read excerpts from the conversation with Harpreet of Guna, the second topper Harpreet Kaur Parihar of Guna has secured the second rank in the state. Harpreet’s initial education was from a private school in Guna. After that, she completed her BBALLB from Bharati Vidyapeeth Pune. Her father is a businessman and her mother is a homemaker. Dainik Bhaskar spoke to Harpreet about the exam… Question: How did you prepare? How did you complete the syllabus? Answer: I started preparing for it from the fourth year of graduation. I also joined coaching in the same year. The coaching was completed by the fifth year. After that, I did self-study and revision. I studied according to the syllabus given in the notification. I focused more on bare acts and did not refer to many reference books. I revised the same thing repeatedly. I kept my sources limited. That’s how I achieved this success today. Question: How much time did you dedicate to studying daily? Answer: There was no fixed time period; I studied as much as I could on any given day. Nevertheless, I dedicated five to six hours daily. I studied consistently. I didn’t take a single day off, even Sundays; I studied every day. The consistency I maintained every day helped a lot. Question: What problems did you face during preparation? Answer: The biggest problem I faced was that the 2022 result has just come out. I had to wait for three years. It was quite difficult for me to be patient with myself, but my parents fully supported me in this. My teachers supported me a lot. Due to a lot of delay, I had to read the same thing and do the same thing repeatedly, yet I remained focused. I completed my work. Question: Many times we feel demotivated. How did you keep yourself strong during such times? Answer: Sometimes it happened to me too that after studying a lot, I would start feeling strange. Exams weren’t coming, the schedule wasn’t coming, so I would get demotivated, but then to keep myself engaged, I would do things related to my hobbies. For example, my hobby is walking, so I would do that. I would focus on my hobbies. I would give myself a break of a day or two in between. Or I would travel somewhere for a day or two, which would divert my mind, and then I would start studying again with full consistency. Question : Did you use social media for preparation? If yes, how much did you use it? Answer : I did not use social media or the internet. I didn’t prepare on it because I don’t remember things from it, so I prepared under the guidance of my teachers. I preferred books. Many children use social media. They are used to studying from the internet. Question : What tips would you like to give to the children who are preparing for this exam in the future? Answer : First of all, the advice is to fully understand and know the syllabus of the exam. You should have a very strong hold on the bare acts. Read them very well. Revise what you have studied. Solve previous years’ papers. Solve them at least ten to twenty times. Keep your material limited. Revise the same material repeatedly, that will help a lot. Question : What kind of questions were you asked in the interview? Answer : It depends on the judges conducting the interview what they want to ask. What topic they have a hold on. There are mixed questions. Related to law, related to hobbies. They ask about what is in the syllabus. They ask about what happens in the courtroom, how to present things. I had mentioned my hobby of brisk walking, so they asked me questions related to that. Question : This time the selection was quite low. Was the paper difficult or was there some other reason for this? Answer : This time the criteria had changed. In the main examination, it was compulsory to score at least 200 marks out of 400. This was for the general category. For OBC, SC ST, it was probably necessary to score 190 marks, which is why the paper might have been difficult. Such was the exam pattern Preliminary Examination Main Examination Subjects: Subjects like Constitution of India, Code of Civil Procedure, Indian Evidence Act, Writing Skills, and Court Practice were included. Requirement: A minimum of 200 marks for the General category and 190 marks for other categories are necessary. Oral Interview Total Marks: 50 Selection: Total marks of main examination and interview were added for final selection. Amarpatan MLA also expressed concern over low selection Amarpatan MLA also raised questions Amarpatan MLA Rajendra Kumar Singh wrote on social media – The recent results of the Civil Judge examination held in Madhya Pradesh once again raise the serious question of whether our system is succeeding in providing equal opportunities to every section of society. An examination was held for 191 posts, but ultimately only 47 candidates were selected. The most concerning fact is that not a single selection could be made for the 121 posts reserved for the Scheduled Tribe category – this situation is a matter of concern for any sensitive state. As soon as the results were declared on November 12, a widespread and natural debate has begun across the entire state. People want to understand if such a large-scale vacancy of reserved posts indicates a deep structural flaw? This discussion is also important because it requires clarity at several levels – whether it’s the technical aspects of the examination system, the unequal distribution of preparation resources, or the impact of socio-educational background. It is necessary to clarify that the issue is not about questioning the judiciary or its selection process, nor about initiating a debate on merit versus reservation. We are merely stating that true merit is only possible when all sections receive equal opportunities for preparation and learning. When there is deep inequality in opportunities and resources, merit cannot emerge in its true form, and this situation affects SC-ST and disadvantaged students the most. Justice is not merely about delivering judgments, but also about ensuring that the path to justice is equal and accessible for every citizen. Therefore, it is essential that the state develops policies and structures that provide real and equal opportunities for disadvantaged communities to enter the judicial service. This discussion is extremely important in the direction of creating an inclusive and just Madhya Pradesh, and it is with this spirit that we are raising this issue publicly. In a state with a 22% tribal population, posts for the ST category have remained vacant for the past decade. 93 candidates from the ST category reached the prelims and mains examinations, but all were eliminated before reaching the interview stage. Not a single ST candidate was selected in the final results, and all posts for the entire category remained vacant again. Similarly, for the SC category, under which 18 posts were sanctioned, only 5 were selected. In a state with a 17% Dalit population, the vacancy of these posts is surprising. ​