The Union Government on Thursday notified the appointment of nine advocates as Additional Judges to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, raising the tribunal's working strength from 55 to 64 judges and providing relief to a court grappling with heavy pendency.
Who has been elevated
Union Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal announced the appointments on X, sharing the list of lawyers elevated to the bench. The nine appointees are Monica Chhibber Sharma, Harmeet Singh Deol, Pravindra Singh Chauhan, Rajesh Gaur, Puja Chopra, Sunish Bindlish, Minderjeet Yadav, Divya Sharma and Ravinder Malik.
"In exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of India, after consultation with Chief Justice of India, the President is pleased to appoint the following Advocates as Additional Judges in the Punjab and Haryana High Court," Meghwal wrote on X.
Background to the appointments
The elevations follow a recommendation by the Supreme Court Collegium on 4 May, which had proposed the names of 10 advocates for appointment. The Centre approved nine of those names. One name from the Collegium list was not cleared by the government.
Notably among those elevated is Pravindra Singh Chauhan, the current Advocate General of Haryana. His elevation has been the subject of litigation: the Punjab and Haryana High Court recently dismissed a petition that had challenged the Collegium's recommendation in his case.
Impact on court workload
The appointments come against the backdrop of a substantial shortfall between sanctioned and working judges at the High Court. The court's sanctioned strength is 85 judges — comprising 64 permanent and 21 Additional Judges. Prior to these notifications, the court was functioning with 55 judges, leaving a gap of 30 vacancies.
| Parameter | Figure |
|---|---|
| Sanctioned strength | 85 judges |
| Permanent judges (sanctioned) | 64 |
| Additional judges (sanctioned) | 21 |
| Working strength before appointments | 55 judges |
| Vacancies before appointments | 30 |
| Pending cases | 4,23,312 |
With the nine additions, the High Court's working strength will become 64 judges. The new judges are expected to take oath before Acting Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Why the appointments matter
- They reduce the numerical gap between sanctioned and actual judges, which had been contributing to delays in adjudication.
- Additional judicial capacity is likely to help address the backlog — currently more than 4.23 lakh matters pending — that spans Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.
- The elevation of the state Advocate General is institutionally significant and follows judicial scrutiny of the collegium process in his case.
The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended 10 names earlier in the year; the government has cleared nine of those, leaving one recommendation unapproved. The fresh appointees will formally join the High Court after the swearing-in ceremony; no date for the oath was provided in the notification released on Thursday.
Legal observers say increasing the size of the bench can give immediate administrative relief in the short term by enabling the court to list more matters and constitute benches on a wider range of issues. However, sustained reduction in pendency would also depend on case management reforms and allocation of judicial resources across the three jurisdictions served by the court.
The Ministry of Law and Justice notification brings to an end the formal process of executive clearance for these nine names after the Collegium recommendation in May. Further procedural steps will follow ahead of the administration of the oath to the newly appointed Additional Judges.
