Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi of the Allahabad High Court has stepped away from hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that calls for fast and timely appointments of judges to fill all current judicial vacancies in the High Court. With this development, the case will now come up for hearing in July.
The PIL, filed earlier this year, strongly warns of a deep crisis. It claims that the Allahabad High Court is in a “state of functional paralysis” due to severe shortage of judges. The petition not only requests faster appointments but also asks for fixed rules to guide the appointment process. It emphasizes that timelines mentioned in the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) must be strictly followed.
Senior Advocate Satish Trivedi, who filed the PIL, is represented by Senior Advocate SFA Naqvi along with Advocates Shashwat Anand and Syed Ahmad Faizan. The petition underlines the harsh reality that in a state with nearly 24 crore people and over 11.5 lakh pending cases, there is just one judge for every 30 lakh people. Each judge has over 14,600 cases pending.
“The sheer lack of judges has effectively disabled the judiciary, reducing its ability to dispense justice to a mere illusion. Its corridors, once filled with the rhythm of justice, now resonate with the silence of unheard petitions,” the plea states.
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The petition reveals that the court is functioning with less than 50% of its approved judge strength. It claims that even if all 160 judge positions were filled, each judge would still be left with over 7,200 pending cases and would serve nearly 15 lakh people.
“These are not mere statistics. Each vacancy represents a courtroom that should have been fully functional... and most importantly, numerous litigants who should have been receiving justice and not waiting indefinitely,” the plea argues.
The PIL adds that the current shortage causes extreme stress not only for the litigants but also for the sitting judges, as they are burdened with huge case loads.
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“If the judiciary, the ultimate guardian of the Constitution, is rendered non-functional due to lack of manpower... then the rule of law, separation of powers, and judicial independence—forming the Basic Structure Doctrine—are effectively dismantled,” the plea states.
To fix the issue, the plea suggests several steps:
- A mandatory mechanism where names of at least 20 candidates for judgeship are proposed six months before any vacancy arises.
- Immediate appointments when judges retire, so there are no gaps in court functioning.
- Use of Article 224A of the Constitution to appoint retired judges as a temporary measure to handle the backlog.
- Regular reviews to decide whether the current sanctioned strength of 160 judges is enough, and if needed, increase it proportionately to the population.
Senior Advocate Trivedi, the petitioner, has served over 50 years in the legal field, including 25 years as a Senior Advocate in the High Court.
The plea was filed shortly after the Supreme Court of India raised concerns over the same issue. The Court noted that Allahabad High Court is operating with only 88 judges, even though the approved number is 160.
A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan directed, “The present writ petition shall be treated as a representation addressed to the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court for taking appropriate administrative action.”
The Supreme Court accepted that the High Court is unable to handle the pending matters. It advised that appointments must be made urgently based on merit and ability.
The Court has also allowed the use of retired High Court judges as ad hoc judges to reduce case backlog, showing its concern about the growing crisis in the judiciary.
