The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to entertain petitions seeking age relaxation for candidates aspiring to appear in the Delhi Judicial Service Examination, 2026, holding that candidates who had already participated in the previous recruitment process and were unsuccessful could not claim a vested right to another opportunity merely because no examination was held in 2025.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana heard petitions challenging ineligibility on account of crossing the upper age limit after the Delhi High Court did not conduct the Delhi Judicial Service Examination in 2025.

The petitioners contended that they had been prejudiced because no examination was held in 2025 for administrative reasons. One petitioner submitted that he had been a waitlisted candidate in the previous recruitment and had now become overage by a short period. Relying on an earlier Supreme Court judgment granting age relaxation where examinations were not conducted in 2020 and 2021, it was argued that a similar benefit ought to be extended.

The Bench, however, distinguished the earlier decision, observing that in those cases the petitioners had not participated in the previous examination, whereas the present petitioners had appeared in the December 2024 examination but failed to qualify. Rejecting the contention, the Chief Justice observed:

When one petitioner argued that he might have succeeded had the examination been held in 2025, the Court termed the submission speculative. Justice Joymalya Bagchi remarked:

Holding that it was not persuaded to interfere with the eligibility criteria or grant relaxation, the Bench declined to grant relief to the petitioners.