Maharashtra government says 348 new posts of judicial officers created after Bombay High Court nudge

The Maharashtra government has informed the Bombay High Court that it has created 348 more judicial officer posts [Vaijanath Vaze v. Registrar General, Bombay High Court]..The development comes in the wake of concerns expressed by the Bombay High Court that there has been no real effort to take expeditious steps to appoint district judges as called for by the High Court in a September 2018 ruling. The High Court observed this while hearing a public interest litigation seeking an increase in the strength of judges in district courts..In response, the Maharashtra law and judiciary department recently informed the High Court bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Gauri Godse that after the creation of these 348 new posts, the sanctioned strength of district court judges has risen from 2,012 to 2,360 posts.The National Court Management Systems Committee (NCMSC) had earlier recommended the creation of 3,211 more posts of judges across Maharashtra to deal with the increased caseload.The Maharashtra government later informed the Court that out of this 3,211 posts, 348 have been created and that the proposal to create the remaining 2,863 posts will be placed before the cabinet for taking a decision.The decision, if any, taken by the cabinet would be placed before the High Court by January 8, government pleader PP Kakade further informed the Court..The submissions came in a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by one Vaijnath Vaze who had sought an increase in the strength of judges and adequate court infrastructure..On December 1, the Court had asked the law and judiciary department to file a report on the steps taken by the State government to address the concerns raised in the PIL.However, since the bench did not find the report to be satisfactory, it directed the department to file another report.On December 19, government pleader Kakade submitted a report which informed about the creation of the new posts.The matter will be heard next on January 8, 2024. .[Read order]