MoS Home Reddy urges law minister to increase strength of Telangana HC judges to 42

Union minister G Kishan Reddy on Wednesday urged Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to increase the strength of judges in the Telangana High Court, which is now functioning with 14 judges, to 42.

In a letter to Prasad, Reddy said when Telangana was created in 2014, the sanctioned strength of the high court was 24 judges.  However, out of the total sanctioned number of judges, as of now, only 14 of them, including the chief justice of the high court, are functioning, he said.

Reddy, Union Minister of State for Home, said owing to the increased number of fresh cases, there is corresponding increase in the pendency of cases in the high court.

He said the number pending cases is immense and considering the rate of filing of fresh cases, even if the high court starts functioning with the sanctioned strength of the judges, it would not suffice to clear the pending cases.

Thus it will further burden to the judicial system, litigating public due to the delay in disposal of cases and spiralling of pendency, he said. Reddy, who hails from Telangana, said the high court as on date, has more than sufficient infrastructure to accommodate 46 to 48 judges.

"In this regard, and as highlighted above, since the sanctioned number of judges in the high court is not sufficient to clear the pending cases, it is requested to increase the sanctioned number of judges from the existing number of 24 to 42.

"I, therefore, request you to kindly look into the matter and take a favourable decision which will help public at large as well as the members of legal fraternity," he wrote.

(Photo Credit: PTI)