7 Kerala, Punjab, MP Additional Judges Made Permanent

New Delhi, Nov 25 (UNI) As many as seven Additional Judges of the High Courts of Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana and Kerala have been made permanent by President Pratibha Patil, the Law and Justice Ministry announced today.

Madhya Pradesh High Court Additional Judges Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari, Brij Mohan Gupta, Anil Prakash Shrivastava and Sushma Shrivastava have been appointed Judges in that order of seniority.

Punjab and Haryana High Court Additional Judges Rakesh Kumar Garg and Rakesh Kumar Jain have been appointed Judges in that order of seniority.

Kerala High Court Additional Judge Antony Dominic has been appointed a Judge.

All appointments take effect from the dates the Judges assume charge of their respective offices.

A count last month showed Punjab and Haryana High Court having 21 of 68 judgeships vacant, Madhya Pradesh High Court, 2 of 43, and Kerala High Court, 12 of 38.

Between them, India's 21 High Courts have a sanctioned strengh of 886 Judges, but 266 judgeships are vacant. That amounts to a vacancy-strength ratio of 1:3.33.

Such vacancies raise serious questions with nearly 30 million cases pending in courts not to mention advice that India ought to quadruple the number of its judges which came from the Law Commission tendered 19 years ago.

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