Vacancies in 7 High Courts waiting to be filled up as Appointments Commission case lingers

As government seeks an early adjudication of the case relating to validity of a new law to appoint senior judges, the immediate task at hand is to appoint Chief Justice of seven High Courts and decide on the case of 11 Additional Judges whose two-year term ends in June.

Government may find it difficult to appoint the Chief Justices in the seven High Courts which are so far continuing with acting Chief Justices.

The new body -- the National Judicial Appointments Commission -- which came into being on April 13 will have to immediately decide whether the 11 Additional Judges from Bombay and Gauhati High Courts will be made permanent Judges or will have to continue as Additional Judges.

Lending a new twist, Chief Justice of India HL Dattu has refused to attend a meeting with the Prime Minister and opposition leader of the selection committee of NJAC till the validity of the law is upheld.

NJAC, even without the two eminent persons, cannot meet as it is headed by the CJI who has made it clear that he cannot be part of it till the validity of the law is upheld.

According to Law Ministry data, there are 364 vacancies in the 24 High Courts of the country, with Allahabad High Court accounting for 79 vacancies. The data was collated on April 15, two days after the new law came into force.