39 vacancies, 3 judges to retire, HCstares at crisis

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 26

The Punjab and Haryana High Court is heading for a crisis of sorts. It is already working at almost half its sanctioned strength, and the state of affairs is expected to take a turn for the worse with at least three judges retiring this year upon attaining the age of superannuation.

The situation can be redeemed if the collegium of the top three judges finalises the names of advocates and sessions judges for elevation as high court judges; the judges transferred from the Punjab and Haryana High Court to other high courts are brought back; or else, retired judges with proven integrity and calibre are engaged for two-three years, as suggested by the Chief Justice of India, Justice Tirath Singh Thakur.

Addressing a joint conference of Chief Ministers and High Court Chief Justices on Sunday, Chief Justice Thakur had asserted that the only solution to combat the menace of pendency was to augment the strength of judges and judicial infrastructure; and to engage retired judges.

The collegium, headed by the Acting Chief Justice, has so far not finalised the names of candidates for elevation, it is learnt. Even after it recommends the names for judgeship, the process is likely to take time owing to procedural tangles involved.

The last judge to be elevated to the Bench was in April, 2015. For more than a year, the process of elevation remained in a state of suspended animation due to the controversy hovering around the setting up of the National Judicial Appointments Commission.

At present, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has 46 judges — a little over half of its sanctioned strength of 85. With no less than 39 positions unfilled, it is among the top three High Courts of the country in terms of vacancies, with Allahabad taking the lead.

The unintended but consequential fallout is reflected not just in the pendency of cases, but also in the time a judge can devote to deliver justice. Each judge, on an average, gets to hear and adjudicate nearly 65 cases in about five hours daily. The situation is worse in case of judges hearing bail matters. The number at times goes up to 80.

In its recently released annual report, the High Court revealed that the disposal of cases in 2014 was more than the previous year. But, an overall increase in pending cases was witnessed, because of higher institution rate. The last available official data of December, 2014, suggests pendency of more than 2.75 lakh cases.

Currently, more than seven HCjudges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court are serving in courts elsewhere. A section of Bar believes bringing them back can largely tilt the scales of justice towards a better delivery system.