CALCUTTA, May 21: A crisis-like situation is in the offing in the Calcutta High Court following the acute shortage of judges and number of pending cases piling up to 30 lakhs, according to reliable sources.

The court with an approved strength of 50 judges has actually been carrying on with 38 judges. The shortage created a crisis-like situation with five more senior judges having retired during the last four months and another retirement due in July. What added to the problem was that, according to sources, no steps have been initiated so far to fill up the vacancies.

The development has left several judicial officers, coming from the Higher Judicial Service of West Bengal (HJS) frustrated as this dillydallying has created bottle-neck in the promotional avenues.

Some feel that the stalemate would deprive many senior officers of their promotions and help several junior officers supersede thereby creating an unsavoury situation. Incidentally, forty per cent judges of the Calcutta High Court are appointed from the judicial officers from the HJS, and 60 per cent from the Bar.

Interestingly, in a Department Order (DO) way back in November '96, Minister of State for Law and Justice, Ramakant D Khalap, wrote to the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice V N Khare, that ``In its 34th Report on the Demands for Grants for the Ministry of Law & Justice, the Standing Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs has expressed concern over the pendency of cases in the courts and has felt that mere filling up of vacancies of judges in Supreme Court and different high courts will not solve the problem.''

The DO noted: ``The Committee has suggested that the Benches of the High Courts should be increased.'' It also said: ``On the concern expressed by the Committee regarding pendency of the cases, the Department of Justice informed that steps have been taken to fill up the vacancies of judges in the high courts at the earliest possible.

It is also mentioned by the Department that the Memorandum of Procedure for appointment of the judges of the high courts, prescribing a time schedule, has been revised in consultation with the Chief Justice of India. It was further mentioned that the proposal for the appointment of a judge to the high court shall be initiated by the Chief Justice of that high court as early as possible but at least six months before the date of occurrence of the vacancy.''

At the end, the DO noted with concern that ``The committee is, however, not fully satisfied with regard to filling up of the vacant posts of the judges.''

A judicial officer, on the condition of anonymity, said the pendency situation had become particularly worse, after the West Bengal Administrative Tribunal was also brought under the purview of the High Court.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.