With the rise in the number of pending cases and decline in the number of judges in the High Court of Karnataka, the legal fraternity in the State is eagerly hoping for quick action from the Chief Justice of the High Court for taking steps to invoke Article 224-A of the Constitution, to appoint a few retired and retiring judges to sit as judges of the court on ad hoc basis.
A ray of hope for the legal fraternity came in the form of a resolution, passed in the conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of the High Courts held in New Delhi in the last week of April, which asked the Chief Justices to make use of the services of retired judges “for enhancing the strength of judges to deal with the backlog of cases…”
The resolution also states that retired judges could be allowed to work on ad hoc basis for two years or till the age of 65, whichever is later. High Court judges retire at the age of 62.
As per data submitted at the conference, 2,37,454 cases were pending in the High Court of Karnataka as on December 31, 2015. Of these, 1,207 cases are pending for more than 10 years and 24,776 are between five and 10 years old.
Sanctioned strength
While the sanctioned strength of judges of the High Court is 60, there are only 30 functioning at present, and the number is set to reduce to 28 by the end of June, raising the vacancy to 54 per cent.
Though Article 224-A was inserted in the Constitution by way of the 15th amendment in 1963, it was never used by the Chief Justices in Karnataka despite increase in pendency over the last three decades, and delay in appointment of regular judges, particularly during the past 10 years.
In 1988, the Law Commission of India recommended invoking Article 224-A, while expressing concern over mounting arrears of cases and delay in appointment of judges in various High Courts, said a retired judge of the High Court of Karnataka.
Only 69 posts of judge were vacant in various High Courts across the country and total pendency was 14.82 lakh cases in 1988 when compared to the present vacancy of nearly 400 posts of judge and pendency of 38.76 lakh cases.
There were only 66,741 cases pending in the High Court of Karnataka as on December 31, 1986, as per Law Commission’s 1988 report on arrears in High Courts. At present, the High Court has 1,207 cases that are pending since more than 10 years.
