A PIL has been filed urging urgent appointment of judges in the Allahabad High Court, where over 50% posts are vacant, causing massive case backlog and delaying justice.
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UTTAR PRADESH: A petition has been filed in the Allahabad High Court, asking for urgent action to fill the large number of vacant judge positions.
Right now, more than half of the judge posts are empty.
The petition explains that Uttar Pradesh has a population of 24 crore, and there are 1,155,225 pending cases in the High Court. But there are not enough judges to handle these cases. There is only one judge for every 30 lakh people, and each judge has to deal with an average of 14,623 pending cases.
This petition has been filed by Senior Advocate Satish Trivedi through Advocates Shashwat Anand, Syed Ahmad Faizan, and Saumitra Anand.
The case will be argued by Senior Advocate SFA Naqvi on behalf of Trivedi.
“The staggering backlog of 11.55 lakh cases in this Hon’ble Court due to the majority of judges’ seats being vacant (81 judicial vacancies, against the sanctioned strength of 160), effectively denies citizens their fundamental right of access to justice and speedy justice under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.”
The petition highlights that even if all 160 sanctioned judge positions are filled, there will still be only one judge for every 15 lakh people, with each judge handling around 7,220 pending cases.
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It also argues that this is one of the worst crises in the history of the Allahabad High Court. The crisis is so severe that it is affecting the court’s ability to perform its constitutional duties.
“More than 50% of the judicial positions remain vacant, crippling its capacity to hear and adjudicate cases efficiently: Against a sanctioned strength of 160 judges, only 79 are in position, leaving more than 50% of the seats vacant, i.e., 81 vacancies.”
The petition warns that if these vacancies are not filled soon, it could damage the justice system and reduce people’s trust in the judiciary.
To fix this issue, the petition asks for a fast, transparent, and cooperative process to restore the High Court’s full strength.
The petition also suggests a new mandatory accountability system for filling judicial vacancies. According to this, the High Court should recommend at least 20 candidates for judge positions six months before a vacancy arises.
It stresses that the process of appointing judges must be faster so that as soon as a judge retires or a vacancy arises, a new judge is ready to take over. This will help the High Court always work at its full strength of 160 judges.
As of January 1, 2025, there were 11,41,687 pending cases in the High Court. However, no urgent steps have been taken to fill the vacant judge positions.
The Supreme Court has also recently expressed concern about the huge number of pending cases in the Allahabad High Court.
“In last one month, we have come across many petitions whose proceedings have been pending before Allahabad High Court since three decades…It appears that the High Court of Allahabad is flooded with litigation. We are informed each judge is with 15-20 thousand cases. The High Court is working with (79) judges; that means it has vacancy of 50 percent. Litigants are waiting…The only way out is to take steps to fill up vacancies, recommending candidates on merit,”
-Justice JB Pardiwala had remarked.
Even the Allahabad High Court Bar Association protested last month by abstaining from work.
They did this to show their concern about the High Court operating with only 79 judges instead of the sanctioned 160 judges.
CLICK HERE: Pendency of Cases in Allahabad High Court
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