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The SC Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi, passed a series of instructions on Tuesday to improve the conditions of the subordinate judicial system in the states. It should be recalled that the apex court is monitoring the conditions of the subordinate judiciary in the current case of Malik Mazhar Sultan. The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Union Department of Justice to look into the matter and ensure that necessary steps are taken so that the requisite funds are made available to the State for the construction of court halls, residential units, etc. It noted that there is a serious shortage in the release of central funds for judicial infrastructure in the state of Sikkim.
The bench, also comprising Justices L N Rao and Sanjiv Khanna, observed that the funding pattern in the state is in the ratio of 90:10 (i.e. 90% by the Centre and 10% by the State), and that the figures in Amicus Gaurav Agarwal's report suggest that the release of funds by the Centre is inadequate.
The court specifically directed the State of Uttarakhand to provide the Competent Authority of the Union of India with the Utilization Certificate for the previous grants to enable additional release of funds for the completion of the Dehradun court complex.
The bench observed that the Dehradun project was approved for Rs. 206.78 crores out of which Rs. 65.46 crores is stated to have been released, the share of the Central Government being Rs. 44.79 crores.
In the context of the state of Rajasthan, the court described the judicial infrastructure (courts halls and residential housing) as "grossly unsatisfactory". At present, the Court insisted the completion of 234 court buildings according to the schedule indicated and further clearance of proposals for 104 court buildings/halls and proposals for 244 residential accommodation within three months from this order date.
The bench directed that subsequent construction work will be carried out and completed as soon as possible, requiring that the report of the actions taken be filed after three months.
The process of filling up of vacancies (by way of recruitment/promotion) in all cadres is underway and expected to be completed by different dates in the months of March, April and July.
The Registrar General of the Rajasthan High Court is required to synchronise the selection process for the 4122 vacancies of supporting staff in different grades/cadres (like Ministerial, Stenographer, Driver, Class-IV, etc) with the fresh appointment of Judicial Officers and Judges at different levels. Similar directions were issued to the High Courts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Insofar as the vacant posts in the cadre of Civil Judge (Junior Division) are concerned, the bench required the ongoing selection process to be completed by July 31 in Tripura. On account of the filling up of backlog vacancies, the court accepted the statement on behalf of the High Court of Karnataka that the reservations for women, physically challenged, etc are 'horizontal reservation' and not 'vertical reservation'.
The Court directed the State of Kerala and requested the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court to work out and finalise a suitable time frame within which the 91 court halls would be made available and to assess the need for future court halls.
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