2017 To See The Highest Number Of Appointments Ever Made To High Courts: Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, on Sunday, claimed that the Government was set to make the highest number of appointments ever made to the High Courts of the country within a year. The current record stands at 126 appointments within a year.

Mr. Prasad made the claim while attending an event at the Odisha Law Academy. His assertion came as a response to a query on the one-day strike declared by the Orissa High Court Bar Association. The lawyers have decided to abstain from work on Friday, in order to protest against the transfer of a High Court Judge despite there being a shortage of 9 Judges out the sanctioned strength of 27.

The Supreme Court collegium, comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice J. Chelameswar and Justice Ranjan Gogoi, will also reportedly soon take a call on appointing 40 new Judges to 9 Courts.

Such swiftness in judicial appointments has been long overdue, with the current vacancies standing at 397 out of a sanctioned strength of 1079, as on 1 November, 2017.

Sikkim High Court is the only one with no vacancies, while High Courts of Uttarakhand and Meghalaya have one vacancy each. Allahabad High Court still tops the list with 52 vacancies out of a total approved strength of 160 Judges, thereby, functioning at just 68% of its sanctioned strength.