Delhi HC rejects plea to fill judges’ vacancies

A bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyay and justice Tushar Rao Gedela dismissed the petition filed by Amit Sahani, a lawyer, and said the issue did not require judicial intervention but administrative orders since the appointment of judges meant appointing someone to the highest constitutional offices

The Delhi high court on Wednesday disposed of a petition seeking speedy appointment of judges, observing that all stakeholders, including the Union government, were well aware of the vacancies and their impact on judicial functioning. The court said the matter squarely fell within the domain of the administration.

The court made the observations days after the Supreme Court urged the Centre to “expeditiously” clear the recommendations of the Collegium for appointment of high court judges. (FILE)

A bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyay and justice Tushar Rao Gedela dismissed the petition filed by Amit Sahani, a lawyer, and said the issue did not require judicial intervention but administrative orders since the appointment of judges meant appointing someone to the highest constitutional offices.

“Do you think the Centre and the high court are not alive to the situation or aware of the problem? These are high constitutional offices. It is not normal recruitment to public service. You can’t say respondent 1 (Centre) and respondent 2 (Delhi high court) are not alive to the situation. Everyone who is in any manner concerned with the judicial system is not only aware but also alive to the situation. You better leave the issue and let the same be dealt with by the respondents on the administrative side,” the bench said.

The court made the observations days after the Supreme Court urged the Centre to “expeditiously” clear the recommendations of the Collegium for appointment of high court judges. Taking note of the long list of pending collegium recommendations for appointing judges to high courts, the apex court on May 9 noted that the judicial strength in some of the high courts was significantly lower.

Notably, Delhi high court judge Girish Kathpalia in a rare observation last month cited “acute shortage of judges” as a key reason for its inability to hear all the cases listed in the daily cause list.

In his petition, Sahani had highlighted that the high court is currently working with a strength of 36 judges, against the sanctioned strength of 60 and the shortage was adversely impacting the timely dispensation of justice and the functioning of the judiciary. The petition went on to add that the impending retirements of justices Dharmesh Sharma and Shailender Kaur would reduce the strength to merely 34 judges.

During the hearing on Wednesday, the Union law ministry represented by additional solicitor general Chetan Sharma said that the Supreme Court was already seized of the matter in a contempt plea highlighting several instances of pending appointments and unexplained holdover by the government and Sahani could thus intervene in that matter.

Sahani then withdrew the petition and the high court granted him the liberty to approach the Supreme Court in the pending proceedings.

“At this juncture the petitioner states that he intends to approach the Supreme Court. Accordingly, nothing needs to be adjudicated in this petition. The petition is disposed of,” the court recorded in its order.