Dockets overflowing, unable to decide appeals in time, functioning at 60% of sanctioned strength: Delhi HC
As the Delhi High Court functions at 60% of its sanctioned strength, the court in an order on April 25, flagged 'overflowing dockets' and admitted that it is 'unable to decide' appeals 'within reasonable period of time'.
'On account of acute shortage of judges as compared to the general population and the litigation quantum, for a long time, the list of regular matters does not reach till the end of the day of hearing. Rather, many a time even beyond 5 pm when the courts rise for the day, some of the matters remain unheard, which is extremely painful for the judge,' Justice Girish Kathpalia recorded in the order.
According to the India Justice Report 2025 by Tata Trusts, which analyses the criminal justice system, Delhi has less than one HC judge for each 10 lakh of people.
Notably, the report said that Delhi performed the best in the judge-to-people population with 36 subordinate court judges per 10 lakh population and less than one (0.6) HC judge per 10 lakh population.
The HC in Delhi currently has 36 sitting judges against a sanctioned strength of 60 judges. As per HC's monthly reports – the latest came out in March – new cases instituted in March exceeded the cases disposed of during the month, the maximum increase being seen in criminal cases followed by civil writ petitions. On the criminal side, several judges have nearly 80-100 matters listed each day as fresh cases and in advance.
Justice Kathpalia was dealing with a petition filed by Mukesh Gupta alias Mukesh Kumar Gupta, an accused in a CBI case, who was seeking permission to travel abroad from May 1 to 11 to attend a club assembly of Rotary Club at Almaty in Kazakhstan and Georgia, to maintain social ties and help his business grow.
The CBI had, however, opposed the plea, telling the court that if allowed to leave the country, Gupta 'would not return to face sentence, which has been suspended by the predecessor bench while admitting this appeal'. It was highlighted that Gupta had earlier been denied permission to travel for leisure trips although the court had granted permission to travel for business.
The court, while recording that 'right to even leisure trips to certain extent ought not be declined,' recorded that 'on account of overflowing dockets, this court is unable to decide the appeals within reasonable period of time'. It noted that Gupta's appeal, filed in 2019, was to be heard as a regular matter.
Regular matters for the day are old matters, usually taken up by most courts at Delhi HC after dealing with the fresh matters first, as well as the advance list, which includes matters that have earlier been taken up when it was filed afresh and was thereafter listed on the 'advance list'.
Most judges at Delhi HC follow the practice of aiming to complete the new cases listed as well as the advance list first.
Additionally, the 36 sitting judges have special benches scheduled in a week to hear time-fixed matters, which may be of some urgency.
Some judges, like Justice Amit Mahajan, have made it a practice since January 27 that matters listed in 'regulars' category 'will be taken up at the end of the board on daily basis'. Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju, meanwhile, has made it a practice that regular matters will be taken up every Thursday at 3.30 pm.
Reasoning that the 'acute shortage of judges' and the quantum of litigation is resulting in the HC unable to reach the list of regular matters for hearing, despite the court sometimes working past its official hours, Justice Kathpalia allowed the accused to travel for the said period, saying, 'In such uncertain atmosphere, depriving the applicant/appellant free movement, even if to enjoy leisure trips, cannot be justified.'
Meanwhile, a PIL has been filed in HC, highlighting a shortage of judges and urging for expeditiously filling up the vacancies by elevating eligible district judges and advocates from the bar. In his plea, advocate Amit Sahni has sought an urgent judicial intervention.
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