Supreme Court holds a bench clerk's experience cannot be equated with a law clerk's for judicial service eligibility
6 October 2026
A Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana dismissed a writ petition on October 6, 2026.
The case is Tapasmita Sutar versus Union of India, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1224 of 2026, filed by a bench clerk in the district judiciary.
The petition sought to have a bench clerk's service treated as equivalent to a law clerk's for the one-year legal practice requirement to sit the judicial service examination.
Justice Bagchi said the duties of a bench clerk are ministerial rather than intellectual and that the post is clerical in nature.
The Court described the distinction between the two kinds of experience as a reasonable classification, because a law clerk's role is of a different character.
The Chief Justice said the Court was willing to help young candidates but could not waive the one-year practice requirement, which the Supreme Court had reduced from three years in August 2026.
In plain words
Law clerk Research assistant to a judge — A young law graduate who assists a judge with research; this experience counts towards the practice requirement.
Bench clerk Court staff attached to a courtroom — A member of the court's establishment whose duties the Supreme Court described as ministerial and clerical.