Judges left waiting in chambers due to lack of sufficient prosecutors in trial courts: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday remarked that judges in the trial courts are compelled to sit in their chambers due to the lack of sufficient public prosecutors in the lower judiciary..The division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna was hearing a batch of petitions related to the appointment of prosecutors in the courts. “This is a very serious problem. We need an adequate number of prosecutors,” the Court observed..On Wednesday, Senior Advocate Rajeev K Virmani, the amicus curiae, highlighted that the issues raised in the case have been pending since 2009.This prompted Justice Manmohan recall what he had witnessed at a Tis Hazari Court a few weeks back. “One judge was sitting in the chamber at about 10:30 am and witnesses had been waiting in that court from 09:45 am and even earlier. The judge was waiting for the Prosecutor to get free from another court. He told me he will have to wait at least till 12 o' clock,” the Acting Chief justice said.The Court added that the problem of lack of sufficient public prosecutors may not be the same as was a decade back but it still was plaguing the system. .Referring to what he had seen, Justice Manmohan said it was an everyday story in the trial courts.“Judges are sitting in the chamber and they are not working,” he said.The Court also expressed concern about the workload of the prosecutors and said that it affects their preparation for the cases being prosecuted..During the hearing, the counsel representing the Central government informed the Court that the Union Ministry of Finance has agreed to implement a judgment passed by the High Court to revise the pay scale of prosecutors. The Court directed the Delhi government to implement the decision within four weeks.While adjourning the matter, the Court also asked the amicus to prepare suggestions that could be issued to the Delhi government in the matter.