Maharashtra to appoint 227 new judges

In yet another move to improve the functioning of the judiciary, the state government is set to appoint 227 new judges for the lower judiciary by this July. The move will bring vacancy down to less than 10% for the state. Sources claim that the 227 magistrates, selected through the Maharashtra Public Services Commission, are expected to get their appointment letters soon. 

Barely a few months ago, the state government announced its decision to have 219 new fast track courts in the coming year. These fast track courts would primarily attend to cases of heinous crimes like murder, rape and kidnapping. However, it is believed that 18 of these courts would operate on a "temporary basis". 

Highly-placed sources in the government said that the process of implementing the recommendations of the 14th finance commission have already begun and appointing the new judges is part of it. "This is just to start with. There are a lot of recommendations from the finance commission about the judiciary, such as holding more lok adalats, redesigning existing court complexes to make them more litigant friendly, scanning and digitalisation of all court records, and training and capacity-building of judges, public prosecutors, mediators and lawyers," said a senior official.