The Supreme Court Collegium has approved the proposal for the appointment of Punjab and Haryana High Court Additional Judges Justice Harmeet Singh Grewal and Justice Deepinder Singh Nalwa as permanent judges of the High Court.
In a statement issued after a meeting held on June 2, the Collegium approved the proposal for confirming the two judges, paving the way for the Centre to issue the formal warrants of appointment. The development comes at a time when the Punjab and Haryana High Court –– one of the country’s busiest High Courts –– continues to grapple with a substantial shortage of judges. Against a sanctioned strength of 85 judges, the High Court presently has only 56 judges, leaving nearly one-third of the sanctioned posts vacant.
The High Court is currently awaiting the appointment of 10 advocates whose names have already been cleared by the Supreme Court Collegium for elevation to the Bench. Their appointment notifications from the Centre are expected shortly. The proposed appointees include advocates from the two States and are expected to considerably augment the court’s strength.
Even with the anticipated appointments, judicial vacancies are likely to remain a concern. Three judges of the High Court are scheduled to retire this year. In addition, another vacancy is expected to arise once a sitting judge is elevated as Chief Justice of another High Court following the elevation of Justice Arun Palli to the Supreme Court.
Justice Palli earlier served as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and is a former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. His elevation has triggered discussions within judicial circles regarding consequential appointments and transfers at the High Court level.
The need to strengthen the Bench assumes greater urgency in view of the mounting pendency before the High Court. Official figures indicate that a total of 4,19,601 cases are pending adjudication. Of these, 1,64,064 are criminal matters, many involving questions of personal liberty, bail, incarceration and other issues requiring expeditious judicial consideration.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court, which exercises jurisdiction over Punjab, Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, is among the largest constitutional courts in the country. The confirmation of Justices Grewal and Nalwa as permanent judges, coupled with the expected appointment of 10 new judges, is therefore being viewed as an important step towards addressing the manpower deficit and reducing the burden of pendency, though a sizeable gap between the sanctioned and working strength is likely to persist for the foreseeable future.
