Delhi’s district judge Vimal Kumar Yadav formally appointed to High Court

“Justice” Yadav expected to take oath on August 12 (Tuesday)

Delhi Crown Bureau

New Delhi: The Centre government on Friday (August 8) issued a Press Communique formally appointing Delhi’s district judge Vimal Kumar Yadav as a Judge of the Delhi High Court. With this the Delhi High Court’s total strength would rise to 41, much below the sanctioned strength of 60.

“In exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of India, the President of India, after consultation with Chief Justice of India, is pleased to appoint Shri Vimal Kumar Yadav as a Judge of Delhi High Court,” said the Press Communique.

According to official sources, Yadav was scheduled to take oath on Tuesday (August 12). Notably, six new judges transferred to the Delhi High Court had taken oath only on July 21.

Yadav’s name was cleared by the Supreme Court’s Collegium on July 28. He had served for over 33 years in Delhi’s lower judiciary, with his last posting being as the “Principal District & Sessions Judge” at the Patiala House Courts.

In its Friday’s press communique, the Centre government also cleared the names of 15 others judges for various other high courts.

Shortage of Judges

Shortage of judges at the Delhi High Court is often cited as the major reason behind the burgeoning list of pending cases before it. Litigants can be often seen leaving the court rooms in a huff after their case/matter fails to reach despite spending their whole day inside the court-rooms.

According to rough estimates, the Delhi High Court has a pendency of nearly 150,000 cases. In the last week of April this year, a judge at the Delhi High Court had made a rare and candid observation. He had cited the “acute shortage of judges” as the key reason for the Court’s inability to hear all cases listed in its daily cause lists. The comment served as a sobering reminder of the systemic challenges confronting the judiciary.

A leading English daily had earlier this year carried a report titled “One judge for 18.7 lakh people: Vacancy, Pendency crises plague High Courts”. The report had stated – “With over 33% posts unfilled and pendency soaring 20% in four years, the judiciary’s capacity to deliver timely justice is under severe strain.” In April 2021, the Supreme Court had allowed appointment of retired judges as Ad-Hoc judges to address the backlog of criminal cases. Initially, such appointments were permitted only if judicial vacancies exceeded 20% of the sanctioned strength.

In January 2025, the Apex Court relaxed the condition, allowing each High Court to appoint between two and five Ad-Hoc judges, not exceeding 10% of its sanctioned strength.