Only two HCs have full strength of judges amid pendency load

NEW DELHI: Indias High Courts are facing a serious manpower crisis, with 330 judges posts lying vacant across 25 states. The Allahabad High Court is the worst affected, with 76 vacancies out of its sanctioned strength of 160the highest among all High Courts. Only two high courts, Sikkim and Meghalaya, are currently functioning with a full bench, according to data accessed by this newspaper from the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) and the Department of Justice. The data is as of September 1 this year. Despite the Supreme Court operating at full strength with 34 judges, the same cannot be said of the high courts, where the shortfall is slowing down the delivery of justice and adding to already massive case backlogs. The sanctioned strength of judges across all high courts is 1,122. But only 792 judges are currently serving. The 330 vacant posts include 161 permanent and 169 additional judges, who are usually appointed for a term not exceeding two years. Legal experts and former judges warn that unless these vacancies are filled promptly, the justice delivery system will continue to suffer badly resulting case pendency going up. The pendency of appointments directly affects case disposal. Litigants suffer the most, said Justice Anjana Prakash, former judge of the Patna High Court. Unless the judiciary and the Central government at address this as a very urgent issue, delays will persist. That is not something very desirable. Justice S R Singh, a former judge of the Allahabad High Court, expressed similar concern. Existing judges are overburdened, which affects both quality and efficiency. Appointments should be made strategically, based on pending caseloads in each high court, he told this newspaper. According to the NJDG, over 67 lakh cases are pending in high courts across the country. The Supreme Court itself has more than 60,000 pending cases despite having no vacancies to fill. Several major high courts continue to grapple with significant judicial vacancies, impacting the pace of justice delivery. The Bombay High Court leads with 26 vacancies out of 94 sanctioned judges. The Punjab and Haryana High Court follows closely with 25 out of 85 positions vacant. Calcutta has 24 out of 72, while Madras faces 19 vacancies out of 75. Patna has 18 out of 53, Delhi 16 out of 60, and Rajasthan 7 out of 50. The persistent shortage of judges is raising concerns over mounting case backlogs and delays in adjudication across these key judicial institutions. Judicial appointments remain a pressing issue for Indias legal system. Smaller high courts also reflect the strain: Uttarakhand has two vacancies out of 11 judges, and Tripura has one vacancy out of five. The appointment process, governed by the Collegium system and requiring government nod, has long been pointed out as reasons for delays. Recommendations are often returned, kept pending, or ignored causing bottlenecks that stretch for months before appointments are made. As the backlog continues to mount, the judiciary is under growing pressure to act swiftly. Experts say that urgent reforms and smoother coordination between the judiciary and the executive are essential to restore the efficiency of the justice system and public faith in it.