NEW DELHI: The government has notified appointment of 33 judges in high courts of Kerala, Allahabad, Rajasthan, Gauhati, Bombay and
Gujarat in the last three days. They are all additional judges appointed as permanent judges in these six high courts.
The government on Tuesday also notified the appointment of Justice Ramalingam
Sudhakar as the acting chief justice of the J&K high court. Justice Sudhakar is the senior-most judge of the J&K HC.
According to law ministry notifications, five additional judges were made permanent in Kerala HC; four in the Allahabad HC; 10 in the Rajasthan HC; six in the Bombay HC; seven in the Gujarat HC and one in the Gauhati HC.
Additional judges are appointed for a two-year tenure and then based on their performances these judges are made permanent. As on March 1, 2018, the 24 high courts in the country had a working strength of 673 judges with 406 positions vacant. The total sanctioned strength is 1,079 judges. The high courts have long pendency of cases, and among other reasons, the large number of vacancies of judges is also contributing to delay in disposal of cases.
