Supreme Court judicial clerkships may no longer remain the preserve of national law schools and select universities after the Delhi high court today ruled as unconstitutional the Supreme Court’s current procedure of inviting applications for the clerkships.
In a 56 page judgment justice Rajiv Shakdher said that the Supreme Court must change its policy of allowing only national law university graduates and graduates from universities “approved” by the Supreme Court to apply for the annual law-clerk openings in the court.
Shakdher also directed the Supreme Court’s registrar to consider afresh AIL Mohali graduate Phalguni Nilesh Lal’s application for the clerkship and let her clerk at the Supreme Court for the remaining term of clerkships this year – until May 2014, in case she meets the criteria for selection.
Lal had petitioned the Delhi HC in January challenging the validity of the selection procedure under which she was ineligible to apply because the Supreme Court had not invited her law school to submit applications for the post.
In December 2012, the Supreme Court’s registrar had written to select law schools stating:
“You are aware that Final year/semester/trimester LLB/LLM students from National Law Schools/Universities on the approved panel and in the stand-by category in the country are considered for short-term assignment as Law-Clerk-cum-Research-Assistant in the registry of the Supreme Court of India.”
Lal, through advocates Rajeev Sharma, Uddyam Mukherjee and Sahil Bhalaik, challenged the procedure as violating her constitutional right to equality under Article 14.
The Delhi high court today said that its decision would not affect the candidates who have already been recruited for the 2013-14 term of clerkships, but the selection procedure must be changed from next term.
Last month additional solicitor general (ASG) Indira Jaising had condemned former ASG Altaf Ahmed’s suggestion of doing away with internships under judges, as “worse than the disease”. The Times had reported Ahmed’s reaction to the controversy that had arisen in the Supreme Court due to a former intern’s sexual harassment allegations against the then unnamed retired C judge AK Ganguly.
Download judgment here [PDF 600KB]
The petitioner, in effect, is asking for a look-in or consideration of her ability to fulfill the role of a LCRA. Denial of such an opportunity by respondent no.1, by taking recourse to the present dispensation, is in my view, manifestly unjust. The scheme/ policy/ eligibility criteria is both discriminatory and arbitrary, and thus, violative of the equality clause engrafted in Article 14 of the Constitution…
Though, engagement as a LCRA is not an employment to a civil post, nevertheless, the right to be considered will, in my view, be an enforceable right qua an organ of the state such as the Supreme Court.
Therefore, I have no hesitation in declaring that the scheme/ policy, as formulated, is unconstitutional. This is not to say, that respondent no.1 cannot devise a scheme/policy. It is undoubtedly empowered to design a policy which is fair and equitable, and that, which enables every aspirant to be considered for engagement as a LCRA.
Necessarily, the mode and manner of sifting the source would have to be devised by respondent no.1. Therefore, to the extent the present scheme/policy confines the source of candidates, for engagement as LCRAs, to the empanelled Law Colleges and Universities; it is illegal.
That said the concerned Judge with whom a LCRA is to be attached will ultimately have a say in the matter. The concerned Judge would necessarily have a pool of eligible LCRAs available with him / her from which he / she could choose a particular LCRA for attachment.
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And before you guys pounce, I myself am from one of these NLU's.
My geared cousin, would you kindly substantiate why are there greater chances of NLU-kids making it through by jugaad? Jugaad will always be there. Even if non-NLU kids are the only ones eligible to apply. Jugaad is an all pervading phenomenon.
Or one could compromise on course quality and go for a lesser private institute, which has a more pocket-friendly fee structure, and this is where both NLUs and high-paying Private institutions lose out, I agree.
My point being that the 'elite' don't necessarily stick to NLU's, being a non-NLUite, I've had more than my fair share of fellow students, for whom the sole reason for admission was their ability to do 'jugaad'.
Disclaimer- Nothing above means or should in any way be construed to mean that those from the NLU's are competent and that those who aren't, are not.
You should visit NLUs sometime. Nobody is questioning how much law you know but surely they know law too.
With love
NLUite
Is Delhi High Court allowing clerkships?
If yes, aren't they paid from public money?
Once they're paid thus, should not Delhi High Court be more transparent with its process of appointment of law clerks?
"jugaad" was what the present (oops..erstwhile) system avoided. Unfortunately, the corridors and ofcourse the judges library would now be crowded by real jugaads who first had no merit of their own to get through a decent NLU and now would utilise big daddies, uncles, aunties, etc etc etc to get into the system after chilling for 5 years. For one, Clerkships were the only job interviews and selections where merit meant something. With people with a LLB, howsoever managed, applying: it would kill the system and merit.
While I agree that a National Law Schools in some ways are better than other law schools in India, but that does not mean that the law students of other law colleges are not competent or meritorious enough to compete with the students of National Law Schools. In fact, from my very own experience often the graduates of NLS are often not at all adept when it comes to court crafts in real practice! That is not to say that we do not have excellent litigators from NLSes...
Rather than condemning the Delhi HC order of the Delhi I think we should all welcome the same as it will now lead to scenario where it will be the best man/woman from any college for the 'prize' and not just the select few!
As regards 'Jugaad', one cannot be so naive to believe that students of NLS get internships only on the basis of merit and not Jugaads by their respective colleges, registrars, VC et al.
It is in poor taste to say this. Most counsels from NLUs have less than 10 years' experience and the ones who have more experience (only Bangalore has alumni with 10+ years of experience) are doing pretty well. Clerkship is anyways not linked to "court craft", but more to do with academic brilliance and research record. While I support the Delhi HC's decision (see my comment at 3.1 below), I don't understand people like you who pass value judgements against NLU grads and make general statements like "NLU grads lack court craft".
By the very same token of your skewed anti-NLU logic, the SC (and many senior lawyers) have a pro-NLU logic! If our national mindset was to go by merit and CV, we would have made better progress.
Is assisting a senior by running around with his files a huge leap towards learning or grasping the "court craft"? To me, it is not! To most of us in the Court, it is not!
Clerkship provides you a perspective towards the other side of the fence: The Bench! And it does so before you enter the corridors in a robe. It has as much to do with court craft as it has to do with research or academic brilliance. To learn the art of finding the root cause and solution to a problem within the shortest time and to formulate the arguments much before the counsel put it across: do teach you as much Court Craft as one learns with a Counsel. court craft is also the art of knowing what the Bench wants and seeks from a lawyer and plus point of clerking is that you get to know whats palatable and whats not with the Bench generally. Also, Court manners!
If your uncle is a judge who hates NLU students, I am constrained to say that I am sad to learn that we have a judge who "hate" students, especially on the basis of their university. Judges like your uncle do not deserve to hold the office of a judge, where impartiality, fairness, and lack of prejudice is very important.
Also, you asked at "2.1.1.2 skool" that why I am shying away from competition? To this my response was that I am in favour of competition, which is even more clear from my first comment on this article at 3.1.
Most importantly, I support the Delhi HC's decision and have no hatred for anyone except incompetent lawyers. And I don't judge people by their lawschool.
I agree that a new system may leave room for "jugaad", but the possibility of "abuse by jugaad" cannot surely be the criteria for leaving out most non-NLU law universities from the SC's list of "eligible" law universities?
Answer this:
How can the SC refuse the opportunity of even making an application for clerkship by someone who went to a government law college, but is absolutely meritorious in terms of CGPA, publications, etc.? Maybe the student did not know about CLAT/ NLUs, or could not leave his/her hometown to pursue a residential NLU LLB due to personal reasons, or did not want to spend 15-20 lakhs on undergrad education, etc. A student's university cannot be the "intelligible differentia" in terms of Art. 14 for a public office. Rather, the SC can say, for example, that only top 10% students, or other students with at least one publication in an international peer-reviewed journal can apply.
Contrary views are welcome, but it will be meaningful if such views are supported with logic/reason!
FYI: FACT The Sc registry does not refuse to any college/university of law to get themselves empanelled with the Registrar for being invited to apply. However, the colleges don't get empanelled and ex conseqenti are not invited. There is practically no bar to Non-NLUs. The students of NLUs also never send individual applications. Such applications even from NLU students without proper channel are not-solicited by the Registry.
Please read the judgment from Para 16 onwards. What you have stated is refuted by the affidavit filed by the Registry of SC and stated in Judgment also.
If what you say is correct, then why would this judgement be rendered? The petition would have been dismissed in limine. If you are really a SC clerk, I would say that someone with your level of analytical skills either got there through "jugaad" or just got a lucky push from the recruitment committee. Please read the judgement!!
Jaise India S.Asia ka superpower hai?
I'm a law-schoolite dammit! Can't you see how smart I am. I know more than all of these non-lawschoolite losers. Dammit, I know more than they will ever know even if they spent the rest of their worthless lives trying to know what I know. Now, give me all the lucrative jobs, prestigious scholarships and what have you, already. I hate to repeat myself, but these lazy good-for-nothings just refuse to accept the basic simple fact that I am the best. I shall be the best for all times to come. These non-lawschoolites are just a bunch of pseudolawyers. Why are they permitted to even exist. Dammit!
really non-lawschoolite??? = layman btw!
Dammit!!
Actually, readers of LI would understand what is meant by non-lawschoolite. Just as I came to understand the concept of pseudolawyers. Edifying stuff this, btw. Exchange of ideas and all that.
The term misnomer is sometimes used autologically as "something asserted not to be true; a myth or mistaken belief", as in the following example:
It's a misnomer that engineers can't write.
Not commenting on anything else, but just highlighting an interesting coincidence.
Oh dear! Are u or were you a law clerk? or were u a friend of one who was assigned to a judge who doesnt trust fresh graduates enough to pass on any (read: none at all) work or was that friend of yours that dumb to have never bin assigned any work?!
Not commenting on the HC law clerks, SC clerkship experience depends on the judge you are assigned to! Few just brief the SLPs the whole year while the others work 16 to 18 hours a day assisting on judgments to maybe notes or speeches!
Clerkship adds no stars to your CV cuz more than 90% of the bar thinks that u are still "interning"! and to add on are equally blinded by the opinions that people like u hold with less than half the knowledge!
1. unis where the medium of instruction is english (reason - lang of sc is eng)
2. the teacher student ration is around 1:15 (so that proper instruction has been given to students)
very few law unis satisfy both these criteria (some of the nlus may also falter on the second)
Yeah...for a contractual position! "one year"! extended at the pleasure of the judges! esp. when work profile with every judge is different! also considering most of the judges now do not give a recommendation as fancied by the applicants!
They can take top 2 students from every college. Performance of a student in his/her college is the best criteria.
The only thing that should be debated here is how good the judgement is in the light of the constitution. Now, did the SC in selecting only NLU students for its clerkships discriminate? Was there a classification which was unreasonable and without having any nexus to the object and purpose? The answer to all of these is yes.
Its a good decision. Enough with the mindless criticism and the display of pride and I daresay arrogance at being a NLU student.
U seriously NEED to learn the basic rules! The oldest NLU is just 25! And the others arent even 10! None of them could hv bin elevated any sooner non-NLUite!
it is only Nlu guys who talk about pubs and clubs. Is it our problem that we're smarter than NLU guys? NLUs fear the competition and they don't want to face the competition.
Keep it up. That's the way to go.
As a question, I'm really interested in knowing why Delhi High Court took an anti-NLU stand? It has been a general trend that Superior Courts are not Delhi-ite preserve. However, Delhi HC has retained that parochial touch and the judgment is an expected, unsurprising reflection of that sentiment. There have been allegations where political pressure have been used to circumvent the admission process of NLUs.
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