In yet another bid to address the longstanding issue of judicial vacancies at the Karnataka High Court, an SLP has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the High Court’s dismissal of a petition filed in this regard..Given the growing number of vacancies and the reluctance of the authorities to address the issue, advocate GR Mohan had filed a petition in the High Court last year, seeking that the vacancies be filled forthwith. However, a month later, a similar petition was filed in the Supreme Court by President of the Karnataka State Bar Council, PP Hegde..On December 13 last year, a Division Bench of the High Court dismissed Mohan’s petition, given the fact that the Supreme Court had issued notice in Hegde’s petition, which asked for similar reliefs..And now, Mohan has approached the Supreme Court challenging the dismissal of his petition by the High Court..The petition states that inaction on the part of the government to fill up the vacancies at the Karnataka High Court – now standing at 32 as against a sanctioned strength of 62 – amounts to a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees citizens the right to speedy justice. It is stated,.“The Union of India has to take immediate steps to conclude the process of appointment of judges in terms of law declared by this Hon’ble Court on the subject matter of appointment of judges through memorandum of procedure, (MoP) and eliminate the agony of litigant public, to achieve social and public good.”.Mohan has also referred to decisions of the Allahabad High Court and other High Courts, wherein the Centre was directed to process appointment of judges within a certain time frame..In this light, it has been contended that the High Court ought not have dismissed his petition. The following issue is raised by the petitioner:.“Whether the Hon’ble High Court is justified in rejecting the Writ Petition of the Petitioner on the ground that the subject matter of the Writ Petition being similar to the one pending adjudication before this Hon’ble Court, without examining the important issue raised in the Writ Petition by the Petitioner therein?”.The petition also makes reference to Articles 224 and 224A, which provide for appointment of ad hoc and retired judges on an emergency basis to fill up the vacancies. However, as the petition points out, these provisions have not been used thus far..Mohan’s SLP is likely to come up before the Supreme Court on Monday, May 7..Lawyers in Karnataka have been crying themselves hoarse over the growing number of vacancies at the High Court, even as the pending number of cases grows to over 3 lakh. A hunger strike conducted by Bangalore lawyers yielded the appointment of five new judges to the High Court. Earlier this month, the lawyers launched a fresh demand for authorities to process the appointments of judges pending at various stages..Read the petition.
In yet another bid to address the longstanding issue of judicial vacancies at the Karnataka High Court, an SLP has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the High Court’s dismissal of a petition filed in this regard..Given the growing number of vacancies and the reluctance of the authorities to address the issue, advocate GR Mohan had filed a petition in the High Court last year, seeking that the vacancies be filled forthwith. However, a month later, a similar petition was filed in the Supreme Court by President of the Karnataka State Bar Council, PP Hegde..On December 13 last year, a Division Bench of the High Court dismissed Mohan’s petition, given the fact that the Supreme Court had issued notice in Hegde’s petition, which asked for similar reliefs..And now, Mohan has approached the Supreme Court challenging the dismissal of his petition by the High Court..The petition states that inaction on the part of the government to fill up the vacancies at the Karnataka High Court – now standing at 32 as against a sanctioned strength of 62 – amounts to a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees citizens the right to speedy justice. It is stated,.“The Union of India has to take immediate steps to conclude the process of appointment of judges in terms of law declared by this Hon’ble Court on the subject matter of appointment of judges through memorandum of procedure, (MoP) and eliminate the agony of litigant public, to achieve social and public good.”.Mohan has also referred to decisions of the Allahabad High Court and other High Courts, wherein the Centre was directed to process appointment of judges within a certain time frame..In this light, it has been contended that the High Court ought not have dismissed his petition. The following issue is raised by the petitioner:.“Whether the Hon’ble High Court is justified in rejecting the Writ Petition of the Petitioner on the ground that the subject matter of the Writ Petition being similar to the one pending adjudication before this Hon’ble Court, without examining the important issue raised in the Writ Petition by the Petitioner therein?”.The petition also makes reference to Articles 224 and 224A, which provide for appointment of ad hoc and retired judges on an emergency basis to fill up the vacancies. However, as the petition points out, these provisions have not been used thus far..Mohan’s SLP is likely to come up before the Supreme Court on Monday, May 7..Lawyers in Karnataka have been crying themselves hoarse over the growing number of vacancies at the High Court, even as the pending number of cases grows to over 3 lakh. A hunger strike conducted by Bangalore lawyers yielded the appointment of five new judges to the High Court. Earlier this month, the lawyers launched a fresh demand for authorities to process the appointments of judges pending at various stages..Read the petition.