In a minor relief to the Gujarat High Court administration which is grappling with an acute shortage of judges, the Ministry of Law and Justice, on Thursday, elevated advocates Bhargav Karia and Sangeeta Vishen as judges of the Gujarat High Court.
Interestingly, their names were recommended by the Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on December 5, along with the names of judicial officer Vishnukumar Patel and advocate Megha Jani. The collegium had also directed the Centre to expeditiously process the recommendations.
However, except for Patel, who was elevated as a high court judge in January, the Centre took over two-and-a-half months to process the names of Karia and Vishen. Surprisingly, in the meantime, advocate Megha Jani withdrew her consent for being elevated as a judge.
As of now, the High Court has a sanctioned strength of 52 judges. Out of it, only 27 judges are present, which means a judicial vacancy of 48 per cent. Add to it a whopping pendency of 1.14 lakh cases and it is clear, beyond doubt, why there is a need to fill these positions, especially considering the fact that the high court administration has been trying tooth and nail to bring down the backlog of cases.
Notably, apart from Justice SG Shah who retired on February 1, three other judges are also retiring this year. The list includes Justice CL Soni (March 16), Justice KM Thaker (September 16), and Acting Chief Justice AS Dave (December 4).
FACTS AND FIGURES
- Sanctioned strength: 52
- Judges in-position: 27
- Judges retiring in 2019: Justice SG Shah (Feb 1); Justice CL Soni (March 16); Justice KM Thaker (September 16); Acting Chief Justice AS Dave (December 4)
