Shreya Gupta
On 4th August 2025, the Delhi High Court clarified the eligibility criteria for appointment to the post of Special Metropolitan Magistrates (SMM). The Court ruled that both serving and retired Group-A officers are qualified to apply. However, they must have held such positions for at least five years. They must also possess a law degree.
The verdict was delivered by a Division Bench comprising Justices C Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla. The Court interpreted Section 18(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) along with the Delhi Petty Offence (Trial by Special Metropolitan Magistrate) Rules, 1998, the online application manual, and the application form to reach its conclusion. It held that the legal framework does not limit eligibility to only retired officers, and that serving officers who met the requirements were equally eligible to apply.
The case arose from a petition filed by Abdul Aleem, a retired Director (Prosecution), who challenged the appointment of six candidates as SMMs under an advertisement dated August 25, 2023. Aleem contended that, according to the rules and online application format, only retired officers were eligible to apply, and therefore, the selection of serving officers violated the prescribed norms. He relied heavily on the online application form, highlighting that fields such as “date of retirement” and “retirement certificate” were marked as mandatory, implying that the form was exclusively designed for retired personnel.
However, the Court rejected this argument, observing that the mandatory nature of these fields only applied to those who were actually retired, and did not imply that serving officers were barred from applying. It emphasized that Section 18(1) CrPC and Rules 3 and 4 of the 1998 Rules clearly permit applications from both serving and retired officers of the Central Government or the Government of NCT of Delhi, provided they had held Group-A posts for five years or more. The Court further held that the application interface or format could not override the statutory eligibility criteria laid down in the governing rules.
Accordingly, the High Court dismissed Abdul Aleem’s petition, upholding the appointments of the six SMMs and affirming that the process followed was in line with both the law and the procedural rules. The ruling settles an important point of eligibility regarding the recruitment of SMMs and ensures that no artificial restriction is placed on serving officers, thereby expanding the pool of eligible candidates for these quasi-judicial roles.
Case Title: Abdul Aleem v High Court of Delhi and Ors
Case Number: W.P.(C) 10209/2024 & CM APPL. 41920/2024
Bench: Justices C Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla
Click here to access the order
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