The Delhi High Court is currently functioning with just 36 judges, which is 40% below its approved strength of 60. This shortage is due to several retirements and transfers in March and April.

The situation may worsen further, as Justices Dharmesh Sharma and Shalinder Kaur are set to retire later this year. Without new appointments, the number could drop to just 34 judges.

In March, the court was hit by a controversy when a large sum of cash was reportedly found at Justice Yashwant Varma’s residence. On March 24, the Supreme Court Collegium ordered his transfer back to his parent court in Allahabad, which the government approved quickly.

A few days later, on March 27, the Collegium recommended transferring Justice D.K. Sharma to the Calcutta High Court. Although no reason was officially given, Bar associations in Kolkata objected to the move. During his farewell, Justice Sharma assured that he would continue serving the judiciary with full commitment.

On March 28, the government approved another transfer — Justice Chandra Dhari Singh was sent back to the Allahabad High Court, a move pending since November. Additionally, Justices Rekha Palli and Anoop Kumar Mendiratta retired earlier in March, adding to the shortage.

High Court judges are appointed under Articles 217 and 224 of the Constitution. The process follows the 1998 Memorandum of Procedure (MoP), which says the Chief Justice should begin the process six months before a vacancy arises. But the Ministry of Law and Justice has noted that this timeline is often not followed.

Recommendations by a High Court’s collegium are sent to the Supreme Court Collegium, which, after reviewing with the government’s input, gives the final approval for appointments.

As of April 15, Delhi’s 40% vacancy rate places it among the worst-performing High Courts in the country. Nationally, 357 of the 1,122 posts are vacant, a 31.8% average.

Delhi is tied with Jharkhand and Manipur for the fourth-highest vacancy rate. The Allahabad High Court tops the list with nearly 50% vacancies, followed by Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh (44%), and Orissa (42%).

Although Delhi accounts for 5.3% of the sanctioned judgeships, it has received only 4.7% of appointments since 2014. In the past decade, 51 judges have been appointed to the Delhi High Court. There were no appointments in 2015, 2020, or 2024. The only exception was 2022, when 17 judges were appointed.

Justice Vipin Sanghi, former Acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, said that such a shortage puts immense pressure on the system.

“When judges are few, each one has to handle more work. This slows everything down,” he told Bar & Bench. He added that frequent transfers also disturb court functioning. “Judges have to keep adjusting to new case assignments, and part-heard cases get delayed.”

He noted that the Delhi High Court has never reached its full strength, with the highest number ever being around 48 judges.