The Allahabad High Court Bar Association has decided to abstain from work today, citing concerns over the High Court functioning with only 79 judges as against the sanctioned strength of 160..On February 24, an emergency meeting of the body was held under the chairmanship of President and Senior Advocate Anil Tiwari, along with Secretary Vikrant Pandey. It was unanimously decided that given the insufficient number of judges, the advocates of the Allahabad High Court would abstain from judicial work on February 25.The letter mentioned that one of the two demands raised by the Bar Association on February 22 - to reconsider proposed amendments to the Advocates Act - has been accepted by the Central governmentHowever, the High Court Bar Association's second demand regarding vacant judicial posts remains unaddressed. "In such a situation, it is natural for judicial independence to be affected," the letter addressed to the Chief Justice of the High Court stated..Last month, Bar & Bench had published a detailed analysis highlighting the same issue. Despite the pendency of 10,99,027 cases before the High Court as of February 25, not much has been done to fill these vacancies on a war footing..Recently, the Supreme Court also raised concerns and took note of the heavy case pendency before the Allahabad High Court. It observed that immediate steps need to be taken to fill the vacant judge posts."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 added.
The Allahabad High Court Bar Association has decided to abstain from work today, citing concerns over the High Court functioning with only 79 judges as against the sanctioned strength of 160..On February 24, an emergency meeting of the body was held under the chairmanship of President and Senior Advocate Anil Tiwari, along with Secretary Vikrant Pandey. It was unanimously decided that given the insufficient number of judges, the advocates of the Allahabad High Court would abstain from judicial work on February 25.The letter mentioned that one of the two demands raised by the Bar Association on February 22 - to reconsider proposed amendments to the Advocates Act - has been accepted by the Central governmentHowever, the High Court Bar Association's second demand regarding vacant judicial posts remains unaddressed. "In such a situation, it is natural for judicial independence to be affected," the letter addressed to the Chief Justice of the High Court stated..Last month, Bar & Bench had published a detailed analysis highlighting the same issue. Despite the pendency of 10,99,027 cases before the High Court as of February 25, not much has been done to fill these vacancies on a war footing..Recently, the Supreme Court also raised concerns and took note of the heavy case pendency before the Allahabad High Court. It observed that immediate steps need to be taken to fill the vacant judge posts."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 added.
