Date:27/11/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/11/27/stories/2007112759080100.htm

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Plea for more judges still pending

Special Correspondent

Proposal for additional strength for other High Courts cleared: A.P. Shah

A.P. Shah

CHENNAI: Madras High Court Chief Justice A.P. Shah on Monday reiterated his request to the State and Central Governments to increase the sanctioned strength of High Court judges from 49 to 69.

Delivering the Law Day address here on Monday, he said he had forwarded the proposal to the Union Government considering the large volume of pending cases. Bombay, Delhi, Allahabad and Kerala High Courts had sent similar proposals. All proposals were endorsed by the Chief Justice of India. All these High Courts, except the Madras High Court, got additional strength.

In the Bombay High Court, where the pendency was only marginally higher than that of the Madras High Court, the sanctioned strength had been increased to 75 from 64. “The fate of the proposal of the Madras High Court is, however, not known to us.”

The function was jointly organised by the Madras High Court Advocates Association, the Madras Bar Association, the Women Lawyers Association and the Law Association.

There were 45 sitting judges against the sanctioned strength of 49. The pendency of main cases as on September 30 this year was 2,05,194 and that of miscellaneous cases 2,15,736. The corresponding figures as on January 1, 2005 were 1,58,990 main cases and 1,27,060 miscellaneous cases. Throughout this period, the rate of disposal of cases by the Madras High Court was much more than the national average. The arrears were, however, continuously mounting. The present sanctioned strength of judges was not adequate, he said.

The Tamil Nadu Government had allotted Rs. 300 crore in the 2007-08 budget for the construction of new court buildings in a phased manner in the next four years. Of the sum, Rs. 125 crore was earmarked for 2007-08 for constructing 24 court buildings, he said.

Calling for much more cooperation from lawyers to reduce the arrears, he said, “In the ultimate analysis, what sustains a legal system is its ability to deliver justice and there can be no justice in a system in which cobwebs and dust gather over the paper books which are lying unattended for a decade.”

The Chief Justice presented the T.S. Ramanatha Iyer Award for devoted service to legal aid at the State-level to Lalitha Lakshmi, a social worker and at the district-level to K. Subramonia Pillai, a Senior Administrative Assistant in the District Legal Services Authority, Kanyakumari. The award carried a certificate, a citation and Rs.5,000. Mr. Shah also released the “High Court, Madras, a report.”

P.K.Misra, Judge, Madras High Court, administered the Law Day oath.