A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking immediate steps to address the acute shortage of judges, which the petitioner claims is severely affecting the delivery of justice and undermining public trust in the judiciary.
The PIL, filed by advocate Amit Sahni, is likely to be heard next week by a bench comprising Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela. Sahni has urged the court to direct authorities to expedite the elevation of eligible district judges and advocates from the bar to fill the vacant positions.
The Delhi High Court has a sanctioned strength of 60 judges—45 permanent and 15 additional—but currently operates with only 36 judges, reflecting a vacancy rate of nearly 40%. According to the petition, the shortfall stems from retirements, inter-court transfers, and delays in appointments, despite clear constitutional mandates and the existing Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) which calls for timely initiation of appointments.
The petition notes that the court recently lost judges due to the transfer of Justices Yashwant Varma, C D Singh, and Dinesh Kumar Sharma to other high courts, coupled with several retirements. Two additional retirements anticipated in the near future could further reduce the working strength to 34 judges, worsening case backlogs and delaying proceedings across writs, bail applications, appeals, and commercial disputes.
“The continued shortage of judges has led to excessive workloads for sitting judges, delays in critical matters, and significant erosion of public confidence in the judicial system,” Sahni contends in the plea. He argues that the chronic judicial delays disproportionately harm economically weaker and marginalised sections, who lack the resources to withstand lengthy legal proceedings.
The petitioner has also stressed that judicial vacancies should not be treated as a mere administrative lapse but as a matter involving fundamental rights and institutional credibility.
