Harmeet Grewal, Deepinder Nalwa appointed as Additional Judges of Punjab and Haryana High Court

More than a year after the Supreme Court collegium recommended their elevation, the President today appointed advocates Harmeet Singh Grewal and Deepinder Singh Nalwa as Additional Judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

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In all, the apex court had recommended five advocates for elevation as high court judges in October 2023, saying they were “fit and suitable” for appointment. While the Centre notified the appointment of three advocates Sumeet Goel, Sudeepti Sharma and Kirti Singh on November 2, 2023, it continued to sit over the collegium recommendation for the appointment of Grewal and Nalwa.

The Supreme Court collegium had also recommended the elevation of advocate Rohit Kapoor. His name was originally proposed by the high court collegium 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 finalised.

Available information suggests the two advocates will be administered oath as high court judges by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu before the weekend. The number of judges with their appointment will go up to 53. But the crisis in the high court will continue with the shortage of 32 judges. The high court, as of now, has a sanctioned strength of 85. Three judges are set to retire this year.

The lengthy and complex process of appointing judges, which involves clearance by the state governments, Governors, Supreme Court collegium, and Union Law Ministry, has contributed to the delay in filling up the vacancies. The process typically spans several months, adding to the mounting pressure on the judicial system.

The two new appointments come at a time when the high court is grappling with a staggering pendency of over 4.32 lakh cases. According to the National Judicial Data Grid’s January figures, nearly 85 per cent of these cases have remained unresolved for over a year, with some dating back to nearly four decades. Of the 4,32,227 pending cases, 2,68,279 are civil matters, while 1,63,948 are criminal cases, directly impacting fundamental rights such as life and liberty.

Despite concerted efforts to tackle “legacy” matters, the pendency figures have shown little improvement. A total of 48,386 second appeals, including five from 1986, are still awaiting adjudication, underscoring the gravity of the judicial delay.

Data indicates that 15 per cent of the pending cases fall in the category of less than one year, while 30 per cent have been unresolved for five to ten years. Alarmingly, 29 per cent of cases have remained pending for over a decade.