Full bench directive to chief secy on dist courts’ vacancies
ALLAHABAD:: Taking suo moto cognizance of more than 1200 vacancies in district judiciary and lack of infrastructure and funds in many courts in state, a full bench of the Allahabad High Court had directed chief secretary to file his personal affidavit apprising it on these issues.
The court has further directed the chief secretary to disclose the timeframe within which the state government proposes to attend to and resolve these issues.
The secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission has been directed to file his personal affidavit detailing the reasons for the delay in initiation of the recruitment process and timeframe within which the commission proposes to conclude the entire recruitment exercise. It directed secretary of the commission to remain present on the next date of hearing.
Principal secretary, Law, together with the principal secretary, PWD, will remain present to assist in the formulation of a time bound program for resolution of all the issues raised in this case.
The full bench comprising chief justice DB Bhosale, justice Govind Mathur and justice Yashwant Varma took suo moto cognizance of poor infrastructure and large number of vacancies and observed, “The petition is based upon the manifest, apathy and inaction on the part of the state government in attending to the needs of the judicial system of the State, thus, clearly hampering its functioning and efficiency. It also raises the important issue of the obligation of the state to provide an effective and responsive judicial system.”
“The petition raises issues touching the District Judiciary, which is essentially the place of first refuge and bastion of millions of citizens of this State.
The issues raised pertain not just to the infrastructural requirements but also in respect of the appointment of adequate number of judicial officers and support staff in order to make justice dispensation effective and responsive,” observed the three judges bench.
As per records, district judiciary of the state is facing vacancies of 1217 officers across its various cadres. 751 courts though in existence on paper are yet to be made functional since the minimal infrastructure is yet to be provided by the state government.
Many courts created in 2012 are not yet functional since land and infrastructure has not been made available.
The work on under construction courtrooms has been stalled due to lack of funds. District judiciary is facing an immense shortage of accommodation for its officers.
The construction of 422 residences is stalled on account of lack of funds. Major projects of the high court, including third court hall building, are also held up due to paucity of funds.
A full bench is a bench with a greater than normal number of judges ie single bench or two judges bench, normally formed to deal important issues of public importance.