Non-payment of income tax is not a mandatory requirement for RHJS eligibility, and reservation for OBC is not applicable to advertisements issued prior to the date when directions for reservation were issued.

1. - The present writ petition has been filed challenging the action of the High Court in not considering the candidature of the petitioner for Rajasthan Higher Judicial Service on the ground that he is not an income-tax payee.

2. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner was verbally informed by the Registrar that it was on account of non-submission of proof for payment of income-tax that the candidature of the petitioner was not considered. It is stated that under Rule 15 of the Rajasthan Higher Judicial Service Rules, 1969 a candidate should be a citizen of India and must be an advocate practising for not less than 7 years. This condition is duly fulfilled by the petitioner. It is stated that under Rule 20 there is a power of scrutiny of the applications for interview, but the respondents were not justified in insisting upon the payment of income-tax as one of the conditions for selection. Reliance has been placed on the decision in the case of All India Judges Association v. Union of India, (1993) 4 SCC 288 and much stress has been laid on the observations made in paras 20 and 21 (of SCC) : (Para 7 at pp 2334-35 of Lab IC) which read as under:-

"It has, however, become imperative, in this connection, to take, notice of the fact that the qualifications prescribed and the procedure adopted for recruitment of the Judges at the lowest rung are not uniform in all the States. In view of the uniformity in the hierarchy, and designations as well as the service conditions that we have suggested, it is necessary that all the States should prescribe uniform qualifications and adopt uniform procedure in recruiting the judicial officer at the lowest rung in the hierarchy. In most of the States, the minimum qualifications for being eligible to the post of the Civil Judge-cum-Magistrate First Class, Magistrate First Class/ Munsiff Magistrate is minimum three years practice as a lawyer in addition to the degree in law. In some States, however the requirement of practice is altogether dispensed with and judicial officers are recruited with only a degree in law to their credit. The recruitment of raw graduates as judicial officers without any training or background of lawyer in has not proved to be a successful experiment. Considering the fact that from the first day of his assuming office, the Judge has to decide among others questions of life, liberty, property and reputation of the litigants, to induct graduates fresh from the Universities to occupy seats of such vital powers is neither prudent nor desirable. Neither knowledge derived from books nor pre-service training can be an adequate substitute for the first-hand experience of the working court system and the administration of justice begotten through legal practice. The practice involves much more than mere advocacy. A lawyer has to interact with several components of the administration of justice. Unless the judicial officer is familiar with the working of the said components, his education and equipment as a Judge is likely to remain incomplete. The experience as a lawyer is, therefore, essential to enable the Judge to discharge his duties and functions efficiently and with confidence and circumspection. Many States have hence prescribed a minimum of three years' practice as a lawyer as an essential qualification for appointment as a Judicial officer at the lowest rung. It is, hence, necessary that all the States prescribe the said minimum practice as a lawyer as a necessary qualification for recruitment to the lowest rung in the judiciary. In this connection, it may be pointed out that under Art. 233(2) of 'the Constitution, no person is eligible to be appointed a District Judge unless he has been an advocate or a pleader for no less than seven years while Arts. 2l7(2)(h) and 124(3)(b) require at least ten years' practice as an advocate of a High Court for the appointment of a person to the post of the Judge of the High Court and the