ASHUTOSH SARKAR

The process for appointing 20 new High Court judges has been halted following the repeal of the Supreme Court Judges Appointment Ordinance, even though the court, now with only 101 judges, is struggling with a backlog of 6.6 lakh pending cases.

The Supreme Judicial Appointment Council had initiated the process on November 26 last year to appoint 20 additional HC judges to increase the number of judges, expedite case disposal and improve the overall efficiency of the justice delivery system.

However, parliament repealed the ordinance on April 9 this year.

Earlier, the president had consented to a proposal for appointing 20 new judges, and But

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