THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE V.V.S.RAO AND THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANATHAN WRIT PETITION No.32639 of 2010 Dated:23.02.2011 Between: R.Suresh Kumar. …Petitioner And The Government of Andhra Pradesh, Represented by its Secretary, (General Administration) Department, A.P.Secretariat, Hyderabad, And another. …Respondents THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE V.V.S.RAO AND THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANATHAN WRIT PETITION No.32639 of 2010 ORDER: (per Hon’ble Sri Justice V.V.S.Rao) The petitioner is a practicing Advocate. Statedly, he is practicing as a Lawyer in the High Court of Judicature, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, for about seven years. Pursuant to the notification issued by the Government of Andhra Pradesh – published in The Hindu on 19.08.2010 and in the Gazette on 16.09.2010 – the petitioner applied for the post of District & Sessions Judge (Entry Level) in the Andhra Pradesh State Judicial Service. By a communication dated 04.12.2010 the petitioner was informed that his application for the said post has been rejected “as he has less than seven years of practice as on the date of gazette notification i.e., 16.09.2010”. This communication is assailed in the writ petition. At the stage of admission itself, the Registrar (Recruitment) of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh filed a counter affidavit. Inter alia, it is stated that the rejection of petitioner’s application on the ground that he does not have seven years practice as on 16.09.2010 is justified under law. After hearing the Counsel for the petitioner and the Standing Counsel for the High Court, we do not find any infirmity in the impugned order. As per Article 233(2) of the Constitution of India as well as Rule 5 of the Andhra Pradesh State Judicial Service Rules, 2007, to be qualified for being appointed as a District Judge a person must have been for not less than seven years an Advocate or a Pleader. Indisputably, even as on 16.09.2010 when the advertisement was gazetted the petitioner does not satisfy this condition as he was enrolled on 06.11.2003. The Writ Petition is, therefore, dismissed without any order as to costs. _______________ (V.V.S.RAO, J) _____________________________ (RAMESH RANGANATHAN, J) 23.02.2011 vs