The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday issued notice in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking directions for urgent and time-bound filling of judicial vacancies at the High Court..A bench of Justices MC Tripathi and Arun Kumar-X directed counsel representing the High Court administration and the State government to seek instructions and ordered that the matter be listed on May 21..The plea stated that with a population of 24 crore and 1,155,225 pending cases before the High Court, there is only one judge for every 30 lakh people, with each judge handling an average of 14,623 pending cases."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 plea contended.Even if the High Court achieves the full sanctioned strength of 160 judges, there will still be only one judge for every 15 lakh people, with each judge handling approximately 7,220 pending cases, it added..It is also stated that the High Court is currently facing one of the gravest crises in its history - a crisis that directly threatens its ability to perform its constitutional functions."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."It further argued that if judicial vacancies remain vacant, they risk crippling the administration of justice and eroding public confidence in the judiciary. Therefore, the plea called for an expeditious, transparent and collaborative approach to restore the strength and stature of the constitutional court..The PIL has been filed by Senior Advocate Satish Trivedi through Advocates Shashwat Anand, Syed Ahmad Faizan and Saumitra Anand. Senior Advocate SFA Naqvi is arguing the case for Trivedi..Bar & Bench in January had highlighted that the Allahabad High Court was functioning at just under 50% of its sanctioned strength of 160, with only 79 judges (including the Chief Justice) hearing cases.Despite the alarming pendency of 11,41,687 cases before the High Court as of January 1, 2025, not much has been done to fill these vacancies on a war footing.Recently, the Supreme Court also raised concern over heavy case pendency at 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.
The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday issued notice in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking directions for urgent and time-bound filling of judicial vacancies at the High Court..A bench of Justices MC Tripathi and Arun Kumar-X directed counsel representing the High Court administration and the State government to seek instructions and ordered that the matter be listed on May 21..The plea stated that with a population of 24 crore and 1,155,225 pending cases before the High Court, there is only one judge for every 30 lakh people, with each judge handling an average of 14,623 pending cases."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 plea contended.Even if the High Court achieves the full sanctioned strength of 160 judges, there will still be only one judge for every 15 lakh people, with each judge handling approximately 7,220 pending cases, it added..It is also stated that the High Court is currently facing one of the gravest crises in its history - a crisis that directly threatens its ability to perform its constitutional functions."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."It further argued that if judicial vacancies remain vacant, they risk crippling the administration of justice and eroding public confidence in the judiciary. Therefore, the plea called for an expeditious, transparent and collaborative approach to restore the strength and stature of the constitutional court..The PIL has been filed by Senior Advocate Satish Trivedi through Advocates Shashwat Anand, Syed Ahmad Faizan and Saumitra Anand. Senior Advocate SFA Naqvi is arguing the case for Trivedi..Bar & Bench in January had highlighted that the Allahabad High Court was functioning at just under 50% of its sanctioned strength of 160, with only 79 judges (including the Chief Justice) hearing cases.Despite the alarming pendency of 11,41,687 cases before the High Court as of January 1, 2025, not much has been done to fill these vacancies on a war footing.Recently, the Supreme Court also raised concern over heavy case pendency at 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.
