Not a single candidate who appeared for the written test of the competitive examination for 45 district judge posts qualified for the interview round. This raised concern among the judicial fraternity regarding the standard of legal education in the state.

To fill the 45 vacancies in the district session judge courts, the Orissa High Court invited applications from law graduates and judicial officers. While law graduates with a minimum of seven years of experience were to compete for 31 posts, the judicial officers with at least five years of experience had to compete for the cadre of civil judge (senior division) for 14 posts.

Only candidates aged between 35 and 45 were eligible to take the examination. A total of 283 candidates from the Bar were shortlisted for the examination. Of these, 195 took the test, which was held on January 5, 2025. Similarly, 83 judicial officers took the test for the 14 posts on the same day.

However, none of them could secure the minimum marks required to qualify for the interview round. The examination results were declared last week by the High Court’s Registrar (Examination).

President, Odisha Lawyers’ Association, Bibhu Prasad Tripathy told The Telegraph, “It’s a sorry state of affairs. We need to establish an Advocate Academy in the line of judicial academy where judges are trained in legal knowledge, skills, attitude, ethics and even information technology for comprehensive capacity building. Lawyers need to stay updated on the latest developments in the legal world and judiciary.”

Tripathy, who was recently conferred the status of Senior Advocate by the Orissa High Court, further added, “Legal education and training must also be prioritised for advocates. We must provide systematic training to upgrade their skills and improve their performance. This cannot be achieved in just a year; we need a long-term approach.”