5 judges retiring in 1 year, Punjab and Haryana HC stares at crisis

The Punjab and Haryana High Court is on the brink of a crisis with the retirement of a Judge this week and no new appointments since November last year. The court is already grappling with a shortage of 31 Judges. It is operating with just 54 Judges against a sanctioned strength of 85.

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The shortfall has led to a staggering backlog of 4, 33,253 cases, including 1, 61,362 criminal matters involving life and liberty. As many as 1, 12,754 or 26 per cent cases in all categories are pending for more than 10 years.

Justice Ritu Tagore retired upon attaining the age of superannuation on September 28, while five more Judges are set to retire by 2025, including two more this year. As many as 15 Judges are eligible for elevation from the category of district and sessions Judges, but their appointments were stalled due to the absence of a regular Chief Justice for almost eight months. The position was left vacant after the retirement of Justice Ravi Shanker Jha in October last year.

Justice Sheel Nagu was finally sworn in as Chief Justice only in July, after a prolonged vacancy following delay on the Centre’s part. But things could not move forward apparently as the elevation of high court’s senior-most Judge, Justice G.S. Sandhawalia – initially as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court and then Himachal Pradesh High Court– was subsequently recommended by the Supreme Court. But it is yet to be notified by the Centre.

The last recommendation for the elevation of advocates as Judges was made over a year ago by the high court collegium, which forwarded names to the Supreme Court collegium for consideration. It, in turn, recommended the elevation of five. But the Centre notified the appointments of three. It did not act on the names of advocates Harmeet Singh Grewal and Deepinder Singh Nalwa. The Supreme Court Collegium reiterated its recommendation on their elevation on October 17, 2023, but their appointments remain pending.

The Supreme Court collegium also recommended the elevation of advocate Rohit Kapoor in January. The high court collegium had originally proposed his name on April 21, 2023, with concurrence from both the Chief Minister and the Governors of Punjab and Haryana. Despite this, the appointment has not yet been finalized.

Even if fresh names are recommended by the high court collegium, the situation is unlikely to improve soon due to the protracted and complex appointment process. Once cleared by the States and the Governors, the recommendations must pass through the Supreme Court collegium before being forwarded to the Union law ministry and eventually receiving the President’s approval.

A slight reduction in the pendency of legacy cases has been witnessed during the first half of this year following an initiative aimed at streamlining the judicial system. But the high court remains in urgent need of more Judges.