Prayagraj, May 01: While hearing a PIL related to judicial vacancies, the Allahabad High Court has asked the lawyers of the state government and the High Court administration to get clear instructions on this issue. Also, the petition has been directed to be listed as a fresh case in the top 10 cases on May 21.
This order has been given by a division bench of Justice MC Tripathi and Justice Anil Kumar-Dasam. The advocates urged the court that all judicial vacancies should be filled as soon as possible under a timely and accountable process, so that the High Court can work on the approved full structural capacity of 160 judges, which is insufficient for a state with a population of more than 25 crores.
The lawyers of the petitioner told the court that when the petition was filed in January 2025, only 79 judges were working in the Allahabad High Court. Whereas the approved number was 160. After the petition was filed, some appointments were made but currently only 88 judges are working. These include judges of the Lucknow bench. This means that the High Court is still working at only 55 percent capacity, while more than 11.5 lakh cases are pending.
This petition filed by senior advocate Satish Trivedi draws attention to the serious impact on the justice system due to judicial vacancies. It has been said that the High Court is in a state of functional paralysis, where each judge is burdened with thousands of cases. The continuous delay in appointments is weakening public confidence in the judiciary and constitutional rights like timely availability of justice are also being affected.
The petition also demands structural reforms in the process of judicial appointments, which includes strict adherence to the time limit set in the Memorandum of Procedure, recommendation of pre-determined eligible candidates, and periodic review of the approved number of judges according to population growth and pending cases.