The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the Maharashtra government to address a staff shortage affecting court operations and to plan for future requirements. A bench of Justices AS Gadkari and Kamal Khata instructed the state to act on proposals submitted by the High Court registry regarding staffing.
“We don’t want to see it delayed… We will see to it that it’s worked out expeditiously,” the bench said.
Advocates PM Palshikar and Aditya Udeshi, representing the High Court registry, said the shortage of staff was affecting hearings, particularly with digital filing.
Justice Gadkari said, “Some of us are also not getting the scanned petitions… Let’s say there are 50 matters. Out of it, only 10 matters come before us that are properly scanned. Technical staff says scanning is not possible… It is not functioning. To be candid with you, I don’t check online petitions. But my brother Justice Khata … looks it up… He immediately sees it… It does not open… because the registry has not accepted the filing yet.”
The court said recruitment must be planned with a 15-year projection. “We have a future requirement. When the new High Court building is constructed… We have to consider this… Litigation is changing, especially commercial litigation,” the bench said.
The bench was hearing a suo motu petition initiated this year. The court had taken note of the issue in a December 2024 order in a contempt case, where it noted that staff shortages were disrupting judicial work.
“It is observed by us that, invariably due to insufficient staff, the functioning of our courts gets hampered,” the bench had said. The order detailed delays in annexing, binding, and paginating documents, as well as inadequate storage and digital infrastructure affecting board preparation and case proceedings.
“Now the courts claim to have gone digital, but not only are there fewer scanning and printing machines but also a shortage of manpower to do the work, and therefore all the cases are not uploaded on the e-filing system of the Court to make our Court paperless. The already overburdened staff is required to do additional work, which elongates their work hours on a daily basis,” the December order stated.
In the December order, the court noted a deficit of 453 staff on the Original Side and 792 on the Appellate Side for the High Court principal bench.
The advocates said a proposal on staffing requirements had been sent to the state in December 2024, with another submitted this week, projecting needs for the next 15 years.
Additional Government Pleader Abhay Patki assured the court that the government would consider the proposals. The bench then asked, “Why don’t you coordinate a meeting with the Principal Secretary, Law and Judiciary department?” Patki agreed to do so.
