SC refuses to entertain petition on expeditious appointment of Rajasthan HC judges

The Supreme Court has refused to entertain a petition filed by advocate Sunil Samdaria, seeking a direction to the Union of India (UoI) to appoint judges expeditiously to the Rajasthan High Court to ensure that citizens get speedy justice.

A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi and comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Deepak Gupta, said, "Please leave the judicial (judges) appointments with us."

Samdaria, a Rajasthan-based advocate, in his petition stated that there are a lot of vacancies for judges in the Rajasthan High Court and pleaded that there should be an expeditious appointment of judges to ensure that citizens get speedy justice.

In his 78-page petition, the 45-year-old advocate sought a direction from the apex court to the UoI to draw definite timelines for the appointment of judges in High Courts in consultation with all stakeholders in view of the shortage of judges in the state's judiciary.

Samdaria's petition, a copy of which was accessed by ANI, also claimed that at present, the Rajasthan High Court is functioning at 50 per cent of its sanctioned strength, which is likely to dwindle further if no judges are appointed.

Article 21 of the Constitution of India guarantees the right to speedy disposal of cases as a fundamental right, which could be achieved only by the appointment of judges in a time-bound manner so as to curb huge pendency of cases before the High Court, Samdaria claimed in his petition.

The petitioner also stated that a detailed representation to the Government of India and to other constitutional functionaries was given on March 17 last year, but despite the receipt of representation, no response has been received and no definite timelines have been framed by the Centre.

Keeping in view the fact that there is no other remedy left before him, Samdaria moved the apex court seeking immediate direction to the UoI for appointing judges in the Rajasthan court.