New Delhi, May 20 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday restored the condition requiring candidates applying for civil judge recruitment to have a minimum of three years of law practice, saying there is no substitute for first-hand experience of courts and administration of justice. In 2002, the court ended the three-year condition to attract the best talent.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai and justices AG Masih and K Vinod Chandran cited the experience of high courts over 20 years since the 2002 order and added that the recruitment of just law graduates has not been successful. "It has led to many problems."

The bench analysed the feedback from high courts, which showed that fresh law graduates recruited as judges did...