Prayagraj (UP), Mar 6 (PTI) Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court Justice Arun Bhansali on Thursday recused himself from hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking court direction for the timely and expeditious filling of all the 81 vacant posts of judges in the court.
The PIL filed by a senior advocate Satish Trivedi will be placed for hearing before another division bench where the chief justice is not a member.
Senior advocate S F A Naqvi appeared to argue on behalf of the petitioner when the matter was taken up on Thursday.
Highlighting the shortage of judges in the Allahabad High Court, the PIL pointed out that with a population of 24 crore and 11,55,225 pending cases in the state, there is currently only one judge for every 30 lakh people, with each judge handling an average of 14,623 pending cases.
The PIL stated that the high court is in a "state of functional paralysis" as it is operating at less than 50 per cent of its sanctioned judicial strength of 160 judges and this has led to an insurmountable backlog of over 11 lakh cases.
The petition further argues that even if the court's strength reaches the sanctioned 160 judges, there will still be only one judge for every 15 lakh people and each judge will have approximately 7,220 pending cases to address.
"If the judiciary, the ultimate guardian of the Constitution, is rendered non-functional due to lack of manpower, then the fundamental principles of the rule of law, separation of powers, judicial independence and judicial review -- all forming part of the basic structure doctrine -- are effectively dismantled, making the Constitution itself sterile and nugatory.
"A high court functioning at half its sanctioned strength is not independent. It is a weakened and incapacitated institution, unable to discharge its role as the guardian of constitutionalism," the PIL added.
It suggested that the high court should establish a mandatory accountability mechanism through judicial guidelines. These would require the names of at least 20 potential candidates for judicial elevation to be recommended six months before any vacancy arises.