In a boost to the candidates with Marathi-medium schooling, the Bombay High Court has recommended that candidates appearing for examination for judge's post be allowed to write their papers in Marathi.

Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, and West Bengal allow a similar facility, High Court noted.

Several petitions were filed in the High Court seeking the facility to write answers in Marathi for the examinations for Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) and Civil Judge Lower Division (CJLD), conducted by Maharashtra Public Service Commission.

Petitioners Prashant Giri and others had challenged the examination conducted in 2009 on various grounds. One of the grievances was that though Marathi is now the language of the lower courts, candidates were not allowed to write answer sheets in Marathi.

This affected the prospects of candidates from rural areas, they said.

High Court dismissed the petitions, but said in its judgement last week that there was "considerable merit" in this argument.

"Since the policy of the State Government has now been implemented by directing Marathi to be a language of the lower Courts, it would be in the fitness of things if the candidates are given the facility of taking the examination of CJLD and JMFC in Marathi," said division bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and R M Savant.