The appointment of nine new Calcutta high court judges was notified on Sunday, taking its total strength to 54. The court has a sanctioned strength of 72 judges.
In a notification, the Union law and justice ministry said the president has appointed Biswaroop Chowdhury, Partha Sarathi Sen, Prasenjit Biswas, Uday Kumar, Ajay Kumar Gupta, Supratim Bhattacharya, Partha Sarathi Chatterjee, Apurba Sinha Ray, and Md Shabbar Rashidi for two years.
Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, a senior advocate and a Communist Party of India (Marxist) Rajya Sabha member, said this is the highest strength of the court in recent memory and will help to dispose of the pending cases faster.
The court has over 200,000 pending cases. Last week, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee urged the judges to dispose of pending cases and appoint more women judges.
“Solve the pending cases. So many cases are pending. Some are three and four-year-olds. …[Appoint] more women judges also. We have very few [women judges]. I know it is not in your hands and you are trying your best,” Banerjee said at an event organised to hand over a building for the extension of the court.
Established on July 1, 1862, the court has jurisdiction over West Bengal and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/others/appointment-of-9-judges-notified-takes-calcutta-high-court-s-strength-to-54-101661748453002.html
