At least three lakh cases are pending before the Calcutta high court as it suffers from severe shortage of judges, a senior member of the Bar Association has claimed.
The court has just 37 judges at present out of a sanctioned strength of 58 thus putting the number of vacanies at a staggering 21.
Even among the 37 judges, two judges always remain stationed at the circuit bench of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, while justice Soumitra Sen has not been sitting in court due to a controversy over alleged financial irregularities.
"There are at least three lakh cases pending before the high court at present and it is likely to rise if fresh appointments are not done immediately," high court Bar Association president, Sardar Amjad Ali, claimed.
"Though we had been assured of steps to appoint new judges by the then chief justice SS Nijjar during the agitation, there has been no new appointment," Ali added.
Admitting that the number of pending cases was piling up daily, West Bengal Bar Council chairman, Bimal Chatterjee, said that lack of planning and foresight was responsible for the present state of affairs at the oldest high court in the country.
"There is lack of co-ordination among various actors in the play, i.e., the high court collegium comprising three judges, the government, the Supreme Court collegium and the central law ministry," Chatterjee told PTI in Kolkata.
"Perhaps this is the main reason for delay in appointment of judges in different high courts," he said.
A nine-day boycott of work in November last year demanding filling up of vacancies has yielded little result as still there have been no new appointment of judges.
High court sources while admitting the severe lack of judges in the court said the process of appointing new judges was on.
The sources, however, refused to say at what stage the process of appointing new judges was at present.
"There should be a system to keep track of appointment and retirement of judges and steps should be taken well ahead in time to ensure that the day a judge retires, a new judge takes over," Chatterjee said.
He advocated of formation of a National Judicial Commission for appointment of judges, saying "if it is done, the process will be smooth."
Chatterjee rued lack of understanding between the bar and the bench saying "there is minimum understanding between the two."
In the selection process, the bar, which can be of assistance, is not consulted, the council chairman claimed.
Only one practising advocate from the high court bar has been elevated to the post of judge since 2006 June, while eight service judges have been elevated from the judicial service in the same period of time.
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