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HomeIndiaGovernanceDelhi High Court's acting CJ cracks the whip on subordinate judiciary

Delhi High Court’s acting CJ cracks the whip on subordinate judiciary

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The Delhi High Court came down hard on a sluggish subordinate judiciary in the city-state, ordering a major reshuffle late Thursday evening. It has directed abolition of a dozen lower courts and transferred 87 judicial officers.

The reshuffle is part of acting chief justice Gita Mittal’s larger plan to reform functioning of judiciary in the national capital.

While 28 subordinate judicial officers have been promoted along with transfers, the rest have simply been transferred. Twelve lower courts — mostly traffic courts and those dealing with cheque bounce cases — have been dissolved.

An official with knowledge of developments told ThePrint on condition of anonymity that the courts that were abolished were virtually redundant.

Last week, a special task force set up by the chief justice, comprising of herself and four of the most senior judges of the high court, made surprise visits to the six districts courts in Delhi. Sources told ThePrint that the task force is likely to pull up judges who were absent from work without notice or those who came late during the surprise visits.

The chief justice also ensured in a full court meeting of judges to not extend the tenure of additional districts and sessions judge Raj Kapoor, a move against the unwritten protocol of extending service by two years.

As per the bye-laws of Delhi Judicial Services rules, once a judge of a lower court turns 58, the high court takes a look into his or her service record to gauge whether the judge should be given an extension of two years. Kapoor, initially a judge of the Patiala House district court, had already been transferred to Tis Hazari district court three months before his ‘retirement’.

Although the court did not make an official statement on the conduct of the judge, his transfer and subsequent retirement has sent a message to lower court judges that the high court will not be extending tenures by default.

Similarly, Nitesh Gupta, a subordinate judge on probation was sacked after a unanimous full court decision of the high court due to charges of having questionable financial assets. Incidentally, Gupta is the son of a sitting judge of the Meghalaya High Court, who was a judge of the Delhi High Court from 2013 to May 2017 before being transferred.

While it is unconventional for acting chief justices to undertake any major changes, delaying such decisions for not having a permanent chief justice could hamper functioning of important courts like the Delhi High Court. Justice Mittal was appointed acting chief justice in April and it is unclear if she will be elevated as a full-time chief justice.

As many as six high courts are currently functioning under acting chief justices indicating the logjam between the Centre and the judiciary on appointments is severely straining high courts. Over 470 posts out of the sanctioned 1,079 judges in high courts are currently vacant and over 350 recommendations made by the apex court collegium are pending with the Centre.

 

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