The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court is facing an acute shortage of judges resulting in undue pendency of cases, says Oudh Bar Association (OBA), an apex body of lawyers practising in the Lucknow bench of the high court.
The shortage has reached an alarming proportion as against the vacancy of 56 judges, only 19 have been appointed. Since January this year, appointments of 39 new judges have been cleared by the Centre for Uttar Pradesh. However, all of them are sitting in the Allahabad high court.
The OBA has taken up the issue with Allahabad high court Chief Justice Arun Bhansali. On September 30, the OBA wrote a letter to the chief justice requesting him to appoint at least 15 judges, out of 39 appointed this year, to the Lucknow high court.
“The Lucknow high court is one of the most magnificent courts in Asia, equipped with 56 courtrooms, including the chief justice’s. In 2025, a total of 39 judges were appointed to the high court of Uttar Pradesh. At present there are only 19 judges in Lucknow, which is insufficient to handle the large number of pending cases,” said OBA president S Chandra.
“This is causing delays in the hearing and disposal of cases, resulting in litigants not getting justice in a timely manner. The delay in hearing and disposal of cases is affecting various types of cases, including bail applications, service matters and civil cases,” Chandra added.
{{/usCountry}}“This is causing delays in the hearing and disposal of cases, resulting in litigants not getting justice in a timely manner. The delay in hearing and disposal of cases is affecting various types of cases, including bail applications, service matters and civil cases,” Chandra added.
{{/usCountry}}“The appointment of more judges would ensure that cases are heard and disposed of in a timely manner, providing justice to litigants. Increasing the number of judges will help reduce the pendency of cases and improve the overall efficiency of the court,” said OBA general secretary advocate Lalit Kishore Tiwari.