The Bombay High Court Today (Feb 21) directed the Maharashtra government to quickly address staff shortages, warning that court functioning is severely affected. Judges emphasized the urgent need for skilled staff to handle digital case management.
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MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court today told the Maharashtra government to quickly decide on requests from the High Court registry about staff needs. The court is facing a big problem because there are not enough staff members, and this is slowing down the work.
A group of two judges, Justice AS Gadkari and Justice Kamal Khata, gave this order while looking into the issue of staff shortage on their own.
“We don’t want to see it delayed… We will see (to) it that it’s worked out expeditiously,”
-the judges said.
The judges explained how the lack of staff was making it hard to do daily court work.
“Some of us are also not getting the scanned petitions… Let’s say there are 50 matters. Out of it, only 10 matters come before us that are properly scanned. Technical staff says scanning is not possible… It is not functioning. To be candid with you, I don’t check online petitions. But my brother Justice Khata … looks it up… He immediately sees it… It does not open… because the registry has not accepted the filing yet,”
-Justice Gadkari said.
The court also made it clear that just hiring people was not enough. The new staff must be trained to handle modern technology used in courts.
The judges told the government to think not only about the current staff shortage but also about what will be needed in the future.
“We have a future requirement. When the new High Court building is constructed … We have to consider this… Litigation is changing, especially commercial litigation,”
-the court said.
The High Court started looking into this issue seriously in December 2024 during a contempt case hearing. The judges had noticed that the shortage of staff was disturbing the court’s work.
“It is observed by us that, invariably due to insufficient staff, the functioning of our Courts gets hampered. Illustratively, many times the files are not located or traced (as for want of racks and storage facilities—they are necessarily kept on the floor, moreover, there is no space on the floor too, and it is difficult to segregate matters),”
-the court had said at that time.
The court also explained how delays in organizing and keeping documents, lack of storage, and poor digital facilities were making case management more difficult.
Even though the courts have started using digital filing, the system is not working properly because there are not enough scanning machines and trained staff.
“Now the courts claim to have gone digital, but not only are there fewer scanning and printing machines but also a shortage of manpower to do the work, and therefore all the cases are not uploaded on the e-filing system of the Court to make our Court paperless. The already overburdened staff is required to do additional work, which elongates their work hours on a daily basis,”
-the court had noted in its December 2024 order.
During the latest hearing, advocate PM Palshikar and advocate Aditya Udeshi, representing the High Court Registry, told the judges that a proposal for hiring more staff was sent to the Maharashtra government in December 2024. Another proposal was submitted on Thursday, which included staffing needs for the next 15 years.
The government’s lawyer, Additional Government Pleader (AGP) Abhay Patki, assured the court that the government would look into the proposals and not create any problems.
The judges suggested that AGP Abhay Patki arrange a meeting with the Principal Secretary of the Law and Judiciary Department to solve the issue quickly.
“Why don’t you coordinate a meeting with the Principal Secretary, Law and Judiciary department?”
-the court asked.
Patki replied that senior officials from the High Court registry could meet with the government to sort out the matter as soon as possible.
He also said that the government would consider the proposals without causing any delays.
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