Delhi HC orders audit of vacancies, workload in district courts

The bench of chief justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and justice Tejas Karia described the January 9 incident as “unfortunate” while hearing a petition that sought the filling of roughly 3,000 vacant staff positions and the registration of an FIR in the case.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday announced a comprehensive audit of vacancies and workload across the city’s seven district courts, following the suicide of a 35-year-old court employee who cited “extreme work pressure” in a note left behind.

The court also declined to order an immediate FIR, noting that police had already registered a case of unnatural death and an executive magistrate’s inquiry was underway.

The bench of chief justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and justice Tejas Karia described the January 9 incident as “unfortunate” while hearing a petition that sought the filling of roughly 3,000 vacant staff positions and the registration of an FIR in the case.

The bench, on Wednesday, added that a decision on further action would be taken after receiving the audit report, which would assess staffing requirements and cadre structure to ensure rationalisation. Meanwhile, the court said it was also rendering legally permissible relief to the staffer’s family.

“As far as vacancies are concerned, the high court administration is conscious of this fact, and on the administrative side, we are taking all possible action. We have also ordered to conduct an audit of the vacancy position, occupancy position, plus the requirement as per the workload,” the bench remarked.

“To rationalise the requirement and the cadre structure, steps are being taken to conduct such an audit. Depending upon the audit report, we will act on it. In addition, whatever relief is legally permissible is also being extended to the family. We immediately swung into action. I do not think anything is lacking,” the bench said.

The court also declined to order an immediate FIR, noting that police had already registered a case of unnatural death and an executive magistrate’s inquiry was underway. “Since the incident occurred in court premises, rightly so, the executive magistrate is conducting an inquiry. Based on that, further action will be taken,” the bench stated.

Advocate Amit George, representing the High Court administration, submitted that administrative measures were being taken to fill vacancies and ensure a rational distribution of work among staff.

The court also assured that “whatever relief is legally permissible is also being extended to the family” of the deceased.

The victim, a specially-abled court clerk known as an ahlmad, died on January 9 after jumping from the Saket district court complex. In his note, he stated that he was under “extreme work pressure” and that managing the responsibilities of his position had become exceedingly difficult given his physical disability, though he blamed no individual for his death.

The tragedy ignited immediate protests within the Saket court complex, with lawyers and staff staging a sit-in to highlight chronic understaffing and unsustainable workloads.

HT had first reported on January 15 that the high court was considering deploying portfolio committees of judges to conduct a comprehensive audit of staff shortages across the seven district courts, following the incident. Portfolio committees are groups of judges tasked with supervising the functioning of district courts. One such committee oversees each of Delhi’s seven court complexes – Tis Hazari, Patiala House, Karkardooma, Rouse Avenue, Saket, Dwarka and Rohini.

The move followed an hour-long meeting on the day of the incident between the District Court Employees’ Welfare Association and Delhi High Court registrar general Arun Bhardwaj, in the presence of the chief justice.