The Supreme Court Collegium has decided that a committee of two apex court judges will evaluate the judgments of additional judges of high courts to decide their suitability to be made permanent.

The decision by the Collegium, led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, assumes significance as the government had recently urged the Collegium to have a relook at its decision to end the practice of evaluating the judicial performance of additional judges.

A candidate is first appointed as additional judge of a High Court.

He or she serves a probationary period before being appointed a permanent judge.

On March 3, 2017, the Supreme Court Collegium had withdrawn a guideline issued in October 2010 by the then Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia for constitution of Judgment Committees by Chief Justices of High Courts for assessment/evaluation of judgments of Additional Judges of high courts for the purpose of determining their suitability for appointment as permanent judges.

Practice revived

Reviving the practice, Chief Justice Misra's Collegium, which met on October 26, unanimously found that there is indeed a “necessity” to assess the judgment of Additional Judges before they are made permanent.

The Collegium has, however, tweaked their predecessor’s guideline to ensure that “peers are not judged by peers” and appointed the panel.