SC junks PIL seeking doubling of judges’ numbers in HCs, district courts

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New Delhi, November 29

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a PIL seeking doubling of the number of judges in all the 25 high courts and subordinate courts across India, saying getting more judges was not the panacea for all evils.

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud noted that populist measures and simplistic solutions were unlikely to resolve such issues. “Merely adding more judges is not the answer, you need good judges,” the Bench told petitioner Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay — a Delhi BJP leader and an advocate.

“These are all populist measures. It’s difficult to fill the 160 seats in Allahabad High Court and you’re asking for 320? Have you been to the Bombay High Court? Not even a single judge can be added there because there is no infrastructure. Adding more judges is not the answer. Then why 320 in Allahabad, add 640? Every evil you see doesn’t require a PIL. Try getting judges to fill out the existing seats, then you’ll see how difficult it is,” the CJI told Upadhyay, who chose to withdraw his PIL.

Nearly 5 crore cases were pending in courts, which means nearly 20 crore people are affected, which was close to the population of the US, the petitioner said, they were suffering because courts were overburdened.

Noting that such petitions would not be entertained by the UK and the US Supreme Court where lawyers were not heard at the admission stage, the Bench asked Upadhyay to come back with proper research.

“When I was in Allahabad High Court, the then Law Minister had asked me to increase the judges to 25 per cent. I was like… good lord; I cannot even fill the 160 (posts). Ask the Bombay High Court… how many lawyers are willing to accept judgeship. Merely adding more judges is not the answer, you need good judges,” the CJI said.