SC flags vacancies in HCs

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said the Allahabad High Court with 2.7 lakh cases pending criminal appeals had a sanctioned strength of 160 judges but was only functioning with 79 judges at present

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Observing Indian high courts have more than 7 lakh criminal appeals pending, the Supreme Court Thursday asked the Centre to expeditiously clear names for judges' appointments to mitigate issues of vacancies and pendency.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said the Allahabad High Court with 2.7 lakh cases pending criminal appeals had a sanctioned strength of 160 judges but was only functioning with 79 judges at present.

"This is one aspect where the central government needs to act and ensure that recommendations of the collegium are cleared expeditiously. We hope and trust that the pending proposals will be cleared by the central government at the earliest," the bench said. Similarly, the Bombay High Court with a sanctioned strength 94, was functioning with only 66 judges, it added.