Supreme Court - Daily Orders
Malik Mazhar Sultan vs U.P. Public Service Commission Through ... on 30 November, 2023
CA 1867/2006
ITEM NO.1 COURT NO.1 SECTION III-A
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Civil Appeal No.1867/2006
MALIK MAZHAR SULTAN & ANR. Appellant(s)
VERSUS
U.P. PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION THROUGH Respondent(s)
ITS SECRETARY & ORS.
(for considering the position in relation to the States of
Jharkhand, Karnataka and Kerala.(Name of Amicus Curiae i.e. Mr
Vijay Hansaria, Mr. Shyam Divan and Mr. Gaurav Agrawal) )
Date : 30-11-2023 This appeal was called on for hearing today.
CORAM :
HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE J.B. PARDIWALA
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MANOJ MISRA
Mr. Vijay Hansaria, Sr. Adv. (A.C.)
Mr. Gaurav Agrawal, Adv. (A.C.)
For Appellant(s)
Mr. Ejaz Maqbool, AOR
For Respondent(s)
Mr. Lakshmi Raman Singh, AOR
Ms. G. Indira, AOR
Mr. Jatinder Kumar Bhatia, AOR
Signature Not Verified
Mr. Aravindh S., AOR
Digitally signed by
CHETAN KUMAR
Date: 2023.12.01
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17:10:51 IST
Reason:
CA 1867/2006
Mrs. D. Bharathi Reddy, AOR
Mr. Raghavendra S. Srivatsa, AOR
Mr. Suvendu Suvasis Dash, AOR
Mr. Ashok Kumar Singh, AOR
Mr. Y. Raja Gopala Rao, AOR
Mr. Pradeep Misra, AOR
Mr. Vishnu Sharma, AOR
Ms. Mrinal Gopal Elker, AOR
Mrs. Aishwarya Bhati, ASG
Mr. R Bala, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Pratyush Shrivastava, Adv.
Mrs. Swarumapa Chaturvedi, Adv.
Mrs. Chitrangda Rastaravara, Adv.
Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, AOR
Ms. Enakshi Mukhopadhyay Siddhanta, AOR
Mr. Sovon Siddhanta, Adv.
Mr. Marikannan N., Adv.
Mr. Saravanan A, Adv.
Mr. S. Silambarasan, Adv.
Mr. Kamlendra Mishra, AOR
Ms. Asha Jain Madan, AOR
Ms. Hemantika Wahi, AOR
Ms. S. Janani, AOR
Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR
Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv.
Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv.
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Mr. Siddhesh Shirish Kotwal, Adv.
Ms. Ana Uapdhyay, Adv.
Ms. Manaya Hasija, Adv.
Mr. Tejasvi Gupta, Adv.
Mr. Pawan Upadhyay, Adv.
Mr. T. Illayarasu, Adv.
Mr. Nirnimesh Dube, AOR
Mr. Wasim A. Qadri, Sr. Adv.
Mrs. Mrinal Elkar Mazumdar, Adv.
Mr. Kanu Agarawal, Adv.
Mr. Madhav Sinhal, Adv.
Mr. Pratyush Shrivastava, Adv.
Ms. Chitrangda Rashtrawara, Adv.
Mr. Ishaan Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR
Mr. R. Sathish, AOR
Mr. Ajay Pal, AOR
Mr. Abhijit Sengupta, AOR
Mr. T.V. Ratnam, AOR
Mr. M. Yogesh Kanna, AOR
Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, AOR
Mr. D.K Thakur, Adv.
Mr. Rajeev Kumar Gupta, Adv.
Mr. Tavleen Singh, Adv.
Ms. Vallabhi Shukla, Adv.
Mr. Joginder Mann, Adv.
Mr. Divyansh Thakur, Adv.
Mr. Bimlesh Kumar Singh, AOR
Mr. Kanwal Chaudhary, Adv.
Mr. Neeraj Aggarwal, Adv.
Mr. Gurmeet Singh, Adv.
Ms. Niharika, Adv.
Mr. Jagjit Singh Chhabra, AOR
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CA 1867/2006
Mr. T.V. George, AOR
Mrs. Bina Gupta, AOR
Mr. T. Mahipal, AOR
Mr. Santosh Kumar - I, AOR
Mr. Kumar Mihir, AOR
Mr. K.K. Mohan, AOR
Ms. Sumita Hazarika, AOR
Mr. B. Balaji, AOR
Mr. Sunil Kumar Jain, AOR
Mr. Anandh Kannan N., AOR
Mr. Lokesh Sinhal, Sr. AAG
Mr. Alok Sangwan, Sr. AAG
Mr. Rajat Sangwan, Adv.
Mr. Sumit Kumar Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Vishnu Tallapragada, Adv.
Mr. Vaibhav Yadav, Adv.
Dr. Monika Gusain, AOR
Mr. R. Nedumaran, AOR
Mr. Shibashish Misra, AOR
Ms. Asha Gopalan Nair, AOR
Mr. Ashwani Kumar, AOR
Mr. Karan Bharihoke, AOR
Mr. Barun Kumar Sinha, AAG
Mr. Rajiv Shanker Dvivedi, Adv.
Ms. Tulika Mukherjee, AOR
Mr. Siddharth, AOR
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Mr. Sandeep Sudhakar Deshmukh, AOR
Mr. Nishant Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Swapnil Anil Walde, Adv.
Mr. M.R. Shamshad, AOR
Mrs. Naresh Bakshi, AOR
Mr. Anuvrat Sharma, AOR
Mr. Naresh K. Sharma, AOR
Mr. Gaurav Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Vinod Sharma, AOR
Mr. G.N. Reddy, AOR
Mr. Shailesh Madiyal, AOR
Mr. P.I. Jose, AOR
Mr. Ravi Sagar, Adv.
Mr. Remish Lakra, Adv.
Mr. Siddhartha Chowdhury, AOR
Mr. Naresh Kumar, AOR
Mr. K. Parameshwar, AOR
Ms. Arti Gupta, Adv.
Ms. Kanti, Adv.
Mr. Chinmay Kalgaonkar, Adv.
Mr. Sahil Tagotra, AOR
Mr. Sakshi Garg, Adv.
Mr. Rushab Aggarwal, Adv.
Mr. Pashupathi Nath Razdan, AOR
Ms. Riddhima J Aggarwal, Adv.
Mr. Japnish Singh Bhatia, Adv.
Mr. Aashish Chojar, Adv.
Ms. Alka Chojar, Adv.
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Mr. Arun K. Sinha, AOR
Mr. V.N. Raghupathy, AOR
Mr. Manendra Pal Gupta, Adv.
Mr. Md. Apzal Ansari, Adv.
Mr. Varun Varma, Adv.
Mr. Ranjan Mukherjee, AOR
Mr. G. Prakash, AOR
M/s. Plr Chambers & Co.
Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR
Mr. Gaurav Agrawal, AOR
Mr. Raghvendra Kumar, AOR
Mr. Devvrat Singh, Adv.
Mr. Kailas U More, Adv.
Mrs. Nirmala D Borade, Adv.
Mr. Anand Kumar Dubey, Adv.
Mr. Maneesh Pathak, Adv.
Dr. Manish Singhvi, Sr. Adv.
Ms. Shubhangi Agarwal, Adv.
Mr. Apurv Singhvi, Adv.
Mr. Milind Kumar, AOR
Mr. Gopal Singh, AOR
Mr. P.N. Ravindran, Sr. Adv.
Mr. T.G. Narayanan Nair, AOR
Ms. Swathi H. Prasad, Adv.
Mr. Kaushal Yadav, AOR
Mr. P.B. Suresh, Adv.
Mr. Vipin Nair, AOR
Mr. Karthik Jayashankar, Adv.
Mr. Anshumaan Bahadur, Adv.
Mr. P.b.sashaankh, Adv.
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Ms. Sneha Kalita, AOR
Mr. Maibam Nabaghanashyam Singh, AOR
Mr. Shrirang B. Varma, Adv.
Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv.
Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR
Mr. Bharat Bagla, Adv.
Mr. Sourav Singh, Adv.
Mr. Aditya Krishna, Adv.
Ms. Raavi Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Krishnanand Pandeya, AOR
Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR
Ms. Limayinla Jamir, Adv.
Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv.
Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv.
Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv.
M/s. Parekh & Co.
Mr. Shail Kumar Dwivedi, AOR
Mr. Anil K. Jha, AOR
Ms. Ripul Swati Kumari, Adv.
Mr. Himanshu Chakraborty, Adv.
Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR
Mr. Sumeer Sodhi, AOR
Mr. Dhruv Wadhwa, Adv.
Ms. Shreya Singh, Adv.
Mr. Santosh Krishnan, AOR
Ms. Deepshikha Sansanwal, Adv.
Mr. Rana Ranjit Singh, AOR
Mr. Vivek Kumar Singh-, Adv.
Mr. Ravish Singh, Adv.
Ms. Akanksha Singh, Adv.
Mrs. Sweta Singh, Adv.
Mr. Abhilash Tripathi, Adv.
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M/s. Corporate Law Group
Mr. Ashok Mathur, AOR
Ms. Uttara Babbar, AOR
Ms. Sampriti Baksi, Adv.
Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR
Mr. Jaideep Gupta, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Kunal Chatterji, AOR
Ms. Maitrayee Banerjee, Adv.
Mr. Rohit Bansal, Adv.
Ms. Kshitij Singh, Adv.
Mr. Sohhom Sau, Adv.
Mr. Merusagar Samantaray, AOR
Ms. Kamini Jaiswal, AOR
Ms. Ruchi Kohli, AOR
Ms. Preetika Dwivedi, AOR
Mr. Abhisek Mohanty, Adv.
Mr. Malak Manish Bhatt, AOR
Mr. Amit Anand Tiwari, AAG
Mr. Sabarish Subramanian, AOR
Ms. Devyani Gupta, Adv.
Mr. C Kranthi Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Adv.
Mr. Naman Dwivedi, Adv.
Mr. Danish Saifi, Adv.
Ms. Tanvi Anand, Adv.
Mr. Krishnayan Sen, AOR
Mr. Anil Shrivastav, AOR
Mr. Kamal Mohan Gupta, AOR
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CA 1867/2006
Mr. Radha Shyam Jena, AOR
Mr. Parijat Sinha, AOR
Mr. Narendra Kumar, AOR
Mr. Atul Sharma, AOR
Mr. Sri Harsha Peechara, Adv.
Mr. Duvvuri Subrahmanya Bhanu, Adv.
Ms. Pallavi, Adv.
Ms. Kriti Sinha, Adv.
Mr. Akshat Kulshreshtha, Adv.
Mr. Rajiv Kumar Choudhry, AOR
Mr. Arjun Garg, AOR
Mr. Aakash Nandolia, Adv.
Ms. Sagun Srivastava, Adv.
Ms. A. Subhashini, AOR
Ms. Binu Tamta, AOR
Mr. Prakash Kumar Singh, AOR
Mr. Sibo Sankar Mishra, AOR
Mr. Satish Pandey, AOR
Mr. Akbar Ali, Adv.
Mr. Braj Kishore Mishra, Adv.
Mr. Anirudh Bankura, Adv.
Mrs. Lalita Gupta, Adv.
Ms. Jay Jaimini Pandey, Adv.
Ms. Sadiya Shakeel, Adv.
Mr. Manmohan Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Harendra Kumar Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Abhishek Kumar Singh, Adv.
Mr. Atiqur Rahman Siddique, Adv.
Mrs. Gulfeshan Javed, Adv.
Mr. Gautam Narayan, AOR
Mr. Gautam Narayan, Adv.
Ms. Asmita Singh, Adv.
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Mr. Harshit Goel, Adv.
Mr. Sujay Jain, Adv.
Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR
Mr. Kabir Shankar Bose, Adv.
Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv.
Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv.
Mr. Sunil Kumar Verma, AOR
Mr. Braj Kishore Mishra, AOR
Mr. Ardhendumauli Kumar Prasad, AOR
Sayaree Basu Mallik, AOR
Ms. Purnima Krishna, AOR
Mr. Talha Abdul Rahman, AOR
Mr. Devashish Bharuka, AOR
Ms. Sarvshree, Adv.
Ms. Swati Mishra, Adv.
Mr. Somesh Chandra Jha, AOR
Mr. Sumeer Sodhi, AOR
Mr. Dhruv Wadhwa, Adv.
Ms. Shreya Singh, Adv.
Mr. Surender Kumar Gupta, AOR
Mr. Dilip Annasaheb Taur, AOR
Mr. Amol V Deshmukh, Adv.
Mr. John Mathew, Adv.
Mr. Ranjan Kumar, AOR
Mr. Kapil Dev Yadav, Adv.
Mr. Sanjeev Kumar, Adv.
Ms. Kirti, Adv.
Ms. Sakshi Kakkar, AOR
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Mr. Sanjeev Malhotra, AOR
Mr. Gaichangpou Gangmei, AOR
Mrs. Lothungbeni T. Lotha, Adv.
Mr. Yimyanger Longkumer, Adv.
Mr. Omprakash Ajitsingh Parihar, AOR
Mr. Arbind Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Ajay Kumar Singh, AOR
Mr. Gurminder Singh, Adv.Gen., Punjab
Ms. Nupur Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Md. Tauheed Arshi, Adv.
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R
State of Jharkhand 1 The vacancy position in the district judiciary in the State of Jharkhand is indicated in the note which has been submitted by Mr Gaurav Agrawal, Amicus Curiae in the following terms:
“1) District Judges - Direct Recruitment [25%]:
Sanctioned strength - 59 Working strength - 44 Vacancies - 18 Recruitment for last year has just been completed on 09.11.2023 leaving a total of 18 vacancies. 18 vacancies will be notified within two (02) weeks. Thereafter, as per prescribed calendar the recruitment process will be commenced. These vacancies have arisen as follows - 09 vacancies due to non-availability of candidates in previous recruitment;
06 vacancies due to retirement, 03 anticipated vacancies (till 31.03.2024) Page 11 of 29 CA 1867/2006
2) District Judges- Limited Competitive Exam [10%] Sanctioned strength - 24 Working strength - Nil Vacancies - 07 + 05 = 12 vacancies 17 officers were appointed under regular promotion (65%) as the officers in LCE quota did not qualify. 07 vacancies remained unfilled. 05 more vacancies are anticipated till 31.03.2024. The 12 vacancies will be notified within two (02) weeks and thereafter recruitment process will be commenced.
3) District Judges - Promotion Quota [65%]:
Sanctioned strength - 154 Working strength - 171* Vacancies - NIL *17 excess officers are working under this quota, as they are adjusted from Limited quota under Rule 4(c) of the Jharkhand Superior Judicial Service (Recruitment, Appointment & Conditions of Service) Rules, 2001.
4) Civil Judges - Senior Division Sanctioned strength - 155 Working strength - 150 Vacancies - 05 On 10.11.2023, 29 Officers from the rank of Civil Judges (Jr. Div.) were promoted to the rank of Civil Judges (Sr. Div.), 05 vacancies are not filled up due to non-suitability/ineligibility of the officers. The 05 vacancies are expected to be filled up within three (03) months.
5) Civil Judges - Junior Division Sanctioned strength - 301 Working strength - 148 Page 12 of 29 CA 1867/2006 Vacancies - 153 Advertisement has been issued by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission on 14.08.2023 to fill up 138 vacancies. The Jharkhand Public Service Commission may be directed to expeditiously complete the process in a time bound manner.” 2 For the direct recruitment of District Judges (25%), eighteen vacancies are to be notified within a period of two weeks so that the recruitment process can commence in terms of the prescribed calendar. The exercise shall be carried out expeditiously and on schedule.
3 Likewise, twelve vacancies for the post of District Judge (Limited Competitive Examination – 10%) are to be notified within two weeks after which the recruitment process will commence. The recruitment process shall be carried out expeditiously and on schedule.
4 Five vacancies in the post of Civil Judges (Senior Division) are expected to be filled up in three months. This exercise shall be carried out expeditiously so that the time schedule is observed.
5 An advertisement has been issued by the Public Service Commission, Jharkhand to fill up one hundred and thirty-eight vacancies. The Public Service Commission shall expeditiously conclude the exercise, in any event on or before 31 March 2024.
Infrastructure 6 As regards the infrastructure, the note of the Amicus Curiae indicates the following position:
“COURT ROOMS:
Total number of court rooms in the State - 652 Page 13 of 29 CA 1867/2006 Number of court rooms owned by Judicial Department - 315 Court rooms which are available in Government buildings - 337 Court rooms working in Private buildings - NIL
1) Ongoing construction activities:
The list of ongoing projects which are required to be expeditiously completed by the State Government are as follows:
S.No. Project Current Status 1 12 Court halls at Lohardaga 12 Court halls are being constructed in a Two-Phase manner. The Second Phase of 6 Court halls can be undertaken only after the First Phase is completed.
The First Phase which was to be completed by December 2023 is running behind schedule by 6 (six) months.
2 09 Court halls at Gumla 09 Court halls are to be constructed after the demolition of the erstwhile 06 Court halls.
However, before the demolition, the Record Room, Malkhana and Stationery has to be shifted. The Civil Court administration has sought help of District Administration to assign some vacant building. Till date, no appropriate place has been allotted due to which the initiation of the project has been delayed.
3 10 Court halls at Chakardharpur, 10 Court halls are at their final West Singhbhum at Chaibasa stages and only furnishing and finishing works alongwith electrical infrastructure has to be installed.
2) Proposals for court complex/rooms pending administrative sanction / at pre sanction stage:
S.No. Project Current Status Page 14 of 29 CA 1867/2006 1 12 Court halls at Lohardaga 11.50 acres of land has been
transferred. State Government has to prepare site plan and DPR so that the next stage of the process can be initiated.
2 41 Court halls at Deoghar 20.00 acres of land has been transferred. Certain modifications have been flagged by the Principal District Judge, Deoghar which needs to be incorporated by the State Government, followed by submission of DPR and Site Plan.
3 40 Court halls at Palamau at Architectural drawings have been Daltonganj submitted to the Hon’ble High Court for approval.
4 23 Court halls at West Singhbhum at ‘Concept Plan’ for the G+5 building Chaibasa was placed before the Hon’ble Court, whereupon the High Court has directed the State Government to prepare a detailed sketch map taking into consideration the preservation of the heritage building as well as the trees in the approach road.
5 Court halls at Godda 14.05 acres of land has been offered and inspected and the State Government has been requested to proceed with the proposal and take notional possession.
6 Sub-Divisional Court Building at 4.00 acres of land has been offered Bundu (Ranchi) and inspected and the inspection report is pending approval of the Hon’ble High Court.
7 Sub-Divisional Court Building at The State Government has not yet Bagodar-Sariya (Giridih) identified the land for the project.
7 The above note refers to (i) ongoing constructions activities; and (ii) proposals which are pending administrative sanction.
Page 15 of 29 CA 1867/20068 In order to facilitate the expeditious commencement and completion of construction activities, a meeting shall be convened by the Building Committee of the High Court, preferably within a period of three weeks. The meeting shall be attended by:
(i) Advocate General of the State of Jharkhand;
(ii) Finance Secretary of the State of Jharkhand;
(iii) Law Secretary of the State of Jharkhand; and
(iv) The Registrar General of the High Court of Jharkhand.
9 Mr Gaurav Agrawal, Amicus Curiae, the Standing Counsel for the State of Jharkhand and the Standing Counsel for the High Court of Jharkhand may be permitted to participate in the meeting through the video conferencing platform.
10 Decisions shall be taken at the meeting so convened so as to ensure that a PERT chart and time schedule are set down for the ongoing construction activities and for the proposals which are pending administrative sanction.
11 We request the Building Committee of the High Court together with other members, as directed above, to periodically review the progress of the construction activities at least once every two months or earlier so that the ongoing constructions are completed expeditiously.
Manpower 12 As regards manpower, the position in the State of Jharkhand has been set out in the note of the Amicus Curiae as follows:
“1) Manpower status relating to District Judiciary of the State of Jharkhand is as follows:Page 16 of 29 CA 1867/2006
S. Name of the Sanctioned Working Vacancy No. posts strength strength position 1. Assistant/Clerk 2106 1559 547 2. Stenographer 701 321 380 (Hindi+English) 3. Deposition Writer 433 259 174 4. Copyist/Typist 87 60 27 5. Driver 169 120 49 6. Group D 2224 1679 545
2) Proposal for creation of 214 posts of Class III and 44 posts for Class IV have been made to the State Government. Out of the said posts, 75 Class III posts have been sanctioned. The State Government may be directed to consider the request made by the High Court for sanction of remaining posts expeditiously.
3) Out of 24 Districts of the State of Jharkhand, all the judgeship have floated the advertisement for filling up the vacancies of the Class IV posts. 06 Districts i.e. Dhanbad, Garhwa, Gumla, Koderma, West Singhbhum at Chaibasa and Khunti have already published their respective results, while for the rest of 18 judgeships the process is at various stages of recruitment.
4) The recruitment for appointments of Class III posts by the Hon’ble High Court is under process and advertisement is likely to be published within one (01) month.”
13 The tabulated statement indicates that there are large vacancies which are pending in the staff of the district judiciary. Expeditious steps must be taken by the High Court to ensure that these vacancies are filled up. Moreover, the State Government shall on or before 31 December 2023 take a final decision on the proposal of the High Court for the creation of Class III and IV posts as set out above. Where the State Government has already granted its sanction for the creation of posts, the High Court shall lay down an expeditious time Page 17 of 29 CA 1867/2006 schedule for the initiation and completion of the recruitment process. Where advertisements have been issued for filling up of vacancies in Class IV posts in the twenty-four districts of the State, the High Court shall monitor through the Registrar General the expeditious conclusion of the process. Likewise, where the results have been published for six districts, the process shall be taken to its logical conclusion expeditiously. For the rest of the eighteen districts, the process which is at various stages of recruitment shall likewise be expeditiously concluded. The process in respect of Class III posts shall be initiated expeditiously and the High Court shall make all endeavour to conclude the process within a time bound schedule.
14 A compliance report shall be filed by the Registrar General of the High Court by 30 April 2024.
State of Karnataka 1 The note submitted by the Amicus Curiae reveals the following status in respect of the vacancy position in the district judiciary:
“1) District Judges- Direct Recruitment [25%]:
Sanctioned strength - 96 Working strength - 77 Vacancies -19 3 persons have been selected recently i.e. on 22.08.2023. Their appointment is not yet notified and the process may take another 1 month. 14 vacancies have been advertised on 19.10.2023 and the last date for receipt of applications is 17.11.2023. This process would take about 6 months for completion. Two vacancies have arisen after the advertisement on 19.10.2023 due to creation of new posts.
2) District Judges -Limited Competitive Exam [10%] Sanctioned strength - 38 Page 18 of 29 CA 1867/2006 Working strength -5 Vacancies - 33 The Full Court in its meeting dated 22.08.2023 decided to fill 23 vacancies under the 65% promotion quota and 10 vacancies by LCE. Applications have been called from Civil Judges [Sr. Div.] for appearing in the examination. 35 applications have been received. The process for recruitment is likely to be completed in about 3 months.
3) District Judges - Promotion Quota [65%]:
Sanctioned strength - 250 Working strength - 219 Vacancies - 31 Due to addition of vacancies from LCE quota and other vacancies which are likely to arise till December, 2023, 59 vacancies have been identified for being filled up. 177 Civil Judges [Sr. Div.] are eligible for being considered for promotion. They have submitted judgments for perusal of the High Court on 10.11.2023. The process is likely to be completed in about 4 months.
4) Civil Judges - Senior Division Sanction strength - 437 Working strength - 403 Vacancies - 34 Though assessment of judgments and awarding of marks on the ACR etc is complete, for the present promotions are not being made for 34 vacancies due to non- availability of accommodation. An assessment would be made by the Hon’ble Committee in January, 2024 and depending upon accommodation availability and other factors, decision would be taken regarding filling up of the 34 vacancies.
5) Civil Judges - Junior Division Page 19 of 29 CA 1867/2006 Sanctioned strength - 554 Working strength - 447 Vacancies - 107 57 vacancies were notified on 09.03.2023, and 997 candidates are eligible for the written examination to be held on 18 th and 19th November 2023. The process is likely to be completed in about 4 months. The remaining 50 vacancies will be notified after the present process is completed.”
2 The time schedule as indicated above shall be duly complied with.
3 The Registrar General shall monitor the process and submit a compliance report to this Court by 30 April 2024.
Infrastructure 4 The position in regard to the infrastructure is set out in the note of the Amicus Curiae as follows:
“Court rooms:
Total number of court halls in the State - 1199 Number of court rooms owned by the Judicial Department - 955 Court rooms which are available in Government buildings - 215 Court rooms working in rented buildings - 29 Note: Though there are a large number of proposals pending with the State Government, the important proposals/projects requiring immediate directions have been set out hereinbelow:
1) Proposals for court complex/rooms pending administrative sanction:
Required Sl. No. Name of project additional amount Page 20 of 29 CA 1867/2006 (in Rupees) 1 Construction of New Court Complex at 15 crores Basavakalyan, Bidar District 2 Construction of New Court Complex at 10 crores Gajendragad, Gadag District 3 Construction of Additional Court Building at 17.60 crores Navangar, Bagalkot District
2) Details regarding ongoing construction of court halls where additional amounts are required Sl. No. Name of project Required additional amount (in Rupees) 1 Additional works such as Compound wall, 1.85 crores internal roads, sheet roofing, pavers, CC Drain, electrification & Other works surrounding the Court Premises at Mudalagi, Belagavi District
2. Additional works such as Compound wall, CC 9.00 crores road, drains, street lights, parking shed, sump and landscaping works at New District Building at Yadgir Note: While the new Court rooms have been constructed, however they are not yet inaugurated/functioning as the works (elaborated hereinbelow) are stalled due to lack of funds.
These proposals are pending for more than a year
c) Details of proposals regarding transfer/identification of lands for Court construction pending before State Government :-
Sl. Name of project Extent of land sought for No. Page 21 of 29 CA 1867/2006 1 Expansion of Court To hand over the old Tahasildar Building at Sira, office building situated adjacent to Tumakuru District the existing Court Building at Sira (Revenue Department) 2 a) Construction of Old Assistant Commissioner office Court Building & building measuring 316.74 sq mtr Judicial Officers and vacant land measuring Quarters at Tarikere, 1943.01 sq mtr (Revenue Chikkamagaluru Department).
District
b) Construction of 3280 sq mtrs of land situated to Court Building and the southern side of the Court Judicial Officers compound at Tarikere (PWD Quarters at Tarikere, Department) Chikkamagaluru District 3 Construction of Court Allotment of PMC Land measuring Building and Judicial 3 acres to the Judicial Department Officers Quarter at (PWD Department) Kagawad, Belagavi District 4 Construction of Court Allotment of Government land Building at Afzalpur, measuring 4 acres in Sy. No.348/7 Kalaburagi District belonging to Bheema Minor Irrigation Department.
5 Construction of Annex 2 acres of land situated adjacent Court Building at to the District Court complex Ramanagara District facing Nation Highway-275 (Rural Development & Panchayath Raj Department) 5 The above note refers to (i) proposals which are pending administrative sanction; (ii) ongoing construction activities; and (iii) transfer/identification of lands for court construction pending before State Government.
6 In order to facilitate the expeditious commencement and completion of construction activities, a meeting shall be convened by the Building Committee of the High Court, preferably within a period of three weeks. The meeting shall be attended by:
Page 22 of 29 CA 1867/2006(i) Advocate General of the State of Karnataka;
(ii) Finance Secretary of the State of Karnataka;
(iii) Law Secretary of the State of Karnataka; and
(iv) The Registrar General of the High Court of Karnataka.
7 Mr Gaurav Agrawal, Amicus Curiae, the Standing Counsel for the State of Karnataka and the Standing Counsel for the High Court of Karnataka may be permitted to participate in the meeting through the video conferencing platform.
8 Decisions shall be taken at the meeting so convened so as to ensure that a PERT chart and the time schedule is set down for the ongoing construction activities and for the proposals which are pending administrative sanction.
9 We request the Building Committee of the High Court together with other members, as directed above, to periodically review the progress of the construction activities at least once every two months or earlier so that the ongoing constructions are completed expeditiously.
Manpower 10 As regards the manpower, several proposals are pending before the State Government for over three years as set out in the tabulated statement extracted below:
Sl. Subject Number of Number Differenti No. posts of posts al posts requested sanctione by the d by the High Court Govt Page 23 of 29 CA 1867/2006 1 Establishment of 78 42 36 Family Court at Shivamogga, Dharwad & DK Mangaluru 2 Establishment of 10 260 140 120 Family Courts in the State 3 Establishment of the 74 32 42 Courts of Senior Civil Judge & JMFC, Hoskote in Bengaluru Rural District and Kushtagi in Koppal District 4 Establishment of the 27 16 11 Court of Civil Judge & JMFC, Kittur in Belagavi District 5 Increasing the number 3024 1950 1074 of Judges/ Courts in Subordinate 6 Establishment of the 185 80 105 Court of Sr. Civil Judge and JMFC in Navalgund, Somwarpet, Mulbagal, Devadurga, Hosanagar 7 Establishment of Civil 27 18 9 Judge & JMFC, Kushalnagar in Kodagu-Madikeri District by Shifting of Addl. Civl Judge & JMFC Somwarpet to Kushalnagar 8 Establishment of 22 572 308 264 Family Courts in the State 9 Establishment of 37 16 21 Court of Senior Civil Page 24 of 29 CA 1867/2006 Judge & JMFC, Shiggaon by shifting the court of Addl.
Senior Civil Judge & JMFC, Hrekerur 10 Establishment of 37 16 21 Court of IV Addl.
District & Sessions
Court, Kalaburagi,
sitting at Sedam (by
shifting IV Addl.
District & Sessions
Judge Court, Kalabugi
to Sedam)
11 Establishment of 23 17 6
Court of 2 Addl. City
Civil & Sessions
Courts to sit at
Kengeri & Yelahanka
& 2 ACMM Courts to
sit at Kengeri &
Yelahanka
respectively
12 Establishment of 2 39 24 15
dedicated Commercial
Courts
13 Establishment of 13 338 182 156
Family Courts
11 We direct that within three weeks, a meeting shall be held between the Advocate General of the State of Karnataka, the Finance Secretary and the Law Secretary of the State of Karnataka and the Registrar General of the High Court of Karnataka so that a final decision can be taken on the pending proposals. The final decision shall be communicated to the High Court no later than by 31 December 2023.
Page 25 of 29 CA 1867/2006State of Kerala 1 The vacancy position in the district judiciary in the State of Kerala is indicated in the note which has been submitted by Mr Gaurav Agrawal, Amicus Curiae in the following terms:
“A) District Judges- Direct Recruitment [25%]:
Sanctioned strength - 46 Working strength - 41 Vacancies -5 The selection process against 5 regular vacancies is nearing completion, as viva voce examination has been completed. The process will be concluded within 2 months.
B) District Judge -Limited Competitive Exam [10%] Since the candidates get promoted to the District and Sessions Judge cadre before completion of 5 years, this mode of recruitment has not been effected in the State of Kerala. The vacancies under LCE quota is accounted for in the promotion quota of 65% as per the second proviso to the Rule 2(1) of Kerala State Higher Judicial Service Rules, 1961.
C) District Judge- Promotion Quota [65%]:
Sanctioned strength - 194 Working strength - 176 Vacancies - 21 On 03.06.2023, a notification was issued to fill 27 vacancies. The ACR and judgment evaluation is almost complete. The suitability test-cum- interview process would be conducted after which the Final Select list will be sent to Government for approval. The entire process will be concluded within 2 months.
D) Civil Judges [Sr. Division]
Sanction strength - 97
Page 26 of 29
CA 1867/2006
Working strength - 93
Vacancies -4
On 10.05.2023, the notification was issued for 31 vacancies. The
process will be concluded within 2 months.
E) Civil Judge [Junior Division]
Sanctioned strength - 268
Working strength - 207
Vacancies - 61
69 vacancies were notified and viva voce examination scheduled from 06.11.2023 to 27.11.2023 is underway. The entire recruitment process is expected to be completed in three months.”
2 The time schedule as indicated above shall be duly complied with.
3 The Registrar General shall monitor the process and submit a compliance report to this Court by 30 April 2024.
4 The pending proposals for NOC from the Jail Department before the State Government are extracted below:
Court centres where NOC from jail required Sl. No. Court Centre 1 Chittur 2 Alathur 3 Kottayam 4 Ottappalam 5 Mavelikkara 6 Aluva
5 We direct that a meeting be convened within three weeks between the Advocate General of the State of Kerala, the Secretary of the Home Department, the Finance Secretary and the Law Secretary of the State of Page 27 of 29 CA 1867/2006 Kerala, the Director General of Prisons and the Registrar General of the High Court so that the above issue is sorted out by 15 January 2024.
6 The Law Secretary and the Finance Secretary of the State of Kerala shall hold a meeting with the Registrar General of the High Court of Kerala within a period of two weeks and necessary sanction to execute urgent construction/repair/maintenance work in the buildings owned by the Local Self Government Department which are presently accommodating Gram Nyayalayas by utilizing the funds/grants placed at the disposal of the judiciary shall be issued on or before 31 December 2023.
IA Nos 110757 of 2020 1 Mr P N Ravindran, senior counsel appearing on behalf of the applicant states that the Interlocutory Application has been rendered infructuous since the process has already been completed.
2 The Interlocutory Application is disposed of.
IA No 113777 of 2019 and IA No 126264 of 2019 1 On the request of counsel for the applicants, we allow the Interlocutory Applications to be withdrawn so as to enable the applicant to move the High Court in its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution with the grievance. The High Court may sympathetically consider expeditious disposal.
2 The Interlocutory Applications are permitted to be withdrawn.
Page 28 of 29 CA 1867/2006IA Nos 28741 of 2023 and IA No 28744 of 2023 1 Ms Sarvshree, counsel for the applicants seeks the permission of the Court to withdraw the Interlocutory Applications.
2 The Interlocutory Applications are dismissed as withdrawn.
Civil Appeal No 1867 of 2006 1 List the appeal on 8 December 2023 for considering the position in relation to the NCT of Delhi along with IA No 37616 of 2021, IA Nos 51919, 51992 and 52071 of 2023 (pertaining to Maharashtra State Judges Association).
2 Mr Shyam Divan, Amicus Curiae is requested to assist the Court on the next date of listing.
(CHETAN KUMAR) (SAROJ KUMARI GAUR) A.R.-cum-P.S. Assistant Registrar Page 29 of 29