Judicial appointments: We are taking steps, CJI Dipak Misra reiterates

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra today reiterated that steps are being taken to make judicial appointments and to fill up vacancies in the higher judiciary..A brief remark was made during the hearing of a PIL filed by Youth Bar Association of India praying for directions to be issued to the Supreme Court Collegium and the Calcutta High Court Collegium to fill up vacancies in the Calcutta High Court and other High Courts..The Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrahud proceeded to dispose of the petition while allowing the petitioner the liberty to move the Court again after eight weeks if no action is taken..Advocates Sanpreet Singh Ajmani, Kuldeep Rai, and Varun Mishra appeared for the petitioner..The petitioner had prayed for issuance of a writ of Mandamus to direct the respondents, Union of India, Supreme Court Collegium, and the High Court Collegium to appoint judges in conformity with the sanctioned strength as expeditiously as possible so as to meet the needs of litigants suffering from “delay in access to justice.”.It was contended that the due to non-appointment of judges, the fundamental rights of the citizens under Articles 14, 19 and 21 are in violation, since the citizens’ right to speedy justice is being violated..On July 2. the Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had made similar observations that “some progress” has been made in relation to judicial appointments. He had made this observation while hearing a petition filed by the Madras Bar Association seeking strict timelines to be implemented at every stage of the process of judicial appointments.