Five newly appointed judges of J&K High Court have been administered oath of office today. With their induction the strength of the High Court judges has risen to twelve including the Chief Justice. It is the first time in history of state’s Judiciary that fives judges have been simultaneously appointed.
It has taken almost a year to bring the exercise of filling the vacancies of the judges of the High Court to the present level. Such exercises are generally lengthy and time consuming. But the previous Chief Justice had taken up the matter with concerned authorities on the ground that there was huge pendency and given the number of judges available, it would take many decades to dispose off the large pending cases with the High Court. The process of filling the vacancies was ultimately started and many difficulties had to be surmounted. First of all was the selection of the names of judges from among the judges and advocates from the bar. Obviously, the High Court authorities in tandem with Law Department had to do good deal of work to find suitable candidates. The next step was of clearing their names, which ultimately rested with the President of India. Thus step by step all formalities were completed, and in the history of State judiciary, now we have for the first time a High Court with 12 sitting judges to run the official business.
The High Court is the highest court of justice in a state. We have thousands of cases pending decision by the High Court. This institution is over worked. Despite specific instructions from the Chief Justice according to which the judges are trying their level best to dispose off maximum case and bring quick justice to justice seekers, it was found that the existing number of seven judges was very inadequate to cope with the situation. With the increased strength of the judges, it is hoped that the huge pendency will be reduced in shortest possible time. This will be a big relief to the litigants whose cases have been pending for decades. We hope that the next step to be completed would be of filling the vacancies of judges in district and sessions courts of the state, something which is also of much urgency. It is generally believed that justice is becoming an expensive affair in the state. Owing to deferment of hearing for one or the other reason, seeking justice becomes more expensive for ordinary person. Hopefully, expansion of the panel of judges to 12 will curtail deferment. That is the precise objective of having full strength of judges at the High Court.
The appointment of new Judges will go a long way in reducing pendency and quick justice will be done to those who come to seek it. The step has brought cheer to all stakeholders, the members of the bar, the litigants and society in general. It has to be recollected that the Chief Justice of J&K has already issued certain instructions to subordinate ranks in the judiciary about how certain steps would help in reducing pendency. The lower court judges have already begun implementing these instructions of the Chief Justice, and the results are very encouraging… Video conferencing has also helped in bringing about efficiency in respective courts. We are now hopeful that the history of judiciary in the state will open a new and very healthy chapter.
The fact is that with growing economy, and with the widening of economic, commercial and other interests, people have become conscious of their rights and the duties of the judiciary to protect them. This has largely resulted in aggrieved people seeking assistance of law, which, however, is a complicated and time consuming process. A way had to be found to overcome this difficulty. Increase in the number of the judges of High Court is a wise and timely decision.
Follow our WhatsApp channel