The Hindu : Front Page : Cabinet nod for increasing apex court judges to 31

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Friday, Feb 22, 2008
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Cabinet nod for increasing apex court judges to 31

J. Venkatesan

284 vacancies to be filled in High Courts
Over 37 lakh cases pending there

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to increase the number of judges in the Supreme Court from 26 to 31 including the Chief Justice.

Briefing journalists after the meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here, an official spokesperson said a Bill to amend the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, would be introduced in Parliament soon.

In 1986, the number was raised from 18 to 25 excluding the Chief Justice.

Now the government decided to increase the strength in view of the pendency of cases — 46,926 till January this year.

In 2002, the apex court by a judicial order directed the Centre to increase the number of judges in the apex court and the High Courts in a phased manner to tackle the mounting arrears.

In the High Courts, a little over 37 lakh cases are pending.

As against the sanctioned strength of 877 judges, only 593 posts have been filled. Considering the backlog of cases, there is a move to increase the strength of judges in various High Courts also. Though formal approval has been accorded, the government is yet to issue the notification.

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