Judge is the highest and the most respected position in the legal/ judicial system of India. Judges are impartial decision-makers in the pursuit of justice and they rule on questions of law. The life of district judge is similar to the referee of cricket, where judge act as a referee between the litigating parties and renders decisions in legal disputes.
A judge presides over a court of law. It’s his/her job to hear all witnesses and examine the evidence presented by the litigating parties in a case, assess the credibility of the charges made and then issue a ruling on the matter based on his or her judgment. You should be very objective and prepared to listen to both the parties patiently.
Appointment of district judges as per the Constitution of India, 1949 is as follows:
(1) Appointments of persons to be, and the posting and promotion of, district judges in any State shall be made by the Governor of the State in consultation with the High Court exercising jurisdiction in relation to such State.
(2) A person not already in the service of the Union or of the State shall only be eligible to be appointed a district judge if he has been for not less than seven years an advocate or a pleader and is recommended by the High Court for appointment.
A day of a District judge would look as follows:
9am: Attend cases and listen to the parties
11am: Work continues with a string of cases one after the other
1pm: Lunch
2pm: Resume hearing
4pm: Go to the chamber and read the files for next day’s cases
5pm: Done for the day
Appointment of judges
The Constitution of India is endowed with three-tier judicial system, which involves Supreme Court of India, The High Courts in the States and Subordinate Courts. So the constitution of India requires that the appointment of Judges must be from amongst the members of the Bar at all these three levels.
District Court
Each state is divided into judicial districts presided over by a District and Sessions Judge. He is known as a District Judge when he presides over a civil case, and a Sessions Judge when he presides over a criminal case. He is the highest judicial authority below a High Court judge. In addition to the district judge there may be number of Additional District Judges and Assistant District Judges depending on the workload. They are known by different names in different states.
The district court has appellate jurisdiction over all subordinate courts situated in the district on both civil and criminal matters. Subordinate courts, on the civil side (in ascending order) are, Junior Civil Judge Court, Principal Junior Civil Judge Court, Senior Civil Judge Court (also called sub-court). Subordinate courts, on the criminal side (in ascending order) are, Second Class Judicial Magistrate Court, First Class Judicial Magistrate Court, Chief Judicial Magistrate Court.
The judges of district courts are appointed by the Governor after consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court of the concerned State. The necessary qualification to become a district judge is minimum seven years of practice as an advocate or a pleader.
District judges are also appointed by way of elevation of judges from courts subordinate to district courts provided they fulfill the minimum years of service.