In a significant judicial update, the Calcutta High Court has lifted the stay on the recruitment of civil judges from the pool of candidates who successfully passed the West Bengal Judicial Services (WBJS) Examination in 2022. This decision, made by Justice Arindam Mukherjee, marks a crucial development by dismissing several petitions that had challenged the examination process.
The recruitment process had been halted due to ongoing legal challenges, causing a standstill in the appointment of civil judges across West Bengal since 2022. Candidates who had cleared all stages of the selection process—preliminary examination, mains, and interviews—were left awaiting their appointments amidst the judicial delays.
The preliminary exams for this batch were conducted in March 2023, followed by the mains in May 2023, and the interviews for successful candidates were completed by April 2024. Despite the Public Service Commission (PSC) publishing the final list of selected candidates in May 2024, the appointment of judges had been deferred due to multiple writ petitions in the High Court questioning the exam’s conduct.
The removal of the stay, originally instituted on December 16, 2024, now paves the way for the immediate commencement of appointments. This resolution is expected to significantly ease the burden on the current judicial infrastructure in West Bengal by filling the long-vacant posts and facilitating a smoother judicial process in the state.
