New Delhi/Chandigarh, May 5: The Supreme Court Collegium, led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, has cleared the elevation of 10 lawyers to serve as judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The resolution, passed during a meeting on May 4, seeks to narrow the widening gap between the court’s sanctioned strength of 85 and its current working capacity of 58 judges.
The list of approved candidates includes Monica Chhibber Sharma, Harmeet Singh Deol, Pooja Chopra, Sunish Bindlish, Navdeep Singh, Divya Sharma, and Ravinder Malik. In a concurrent resolution, the Collegium also affirmed the promotion of Rajesh Gaur, Mindarjit Yadav, and Pravinder Singh Chauhan, the latter of whom is currently serving as the Advocate-General of Haryana. These appointments are viewed as a critical step toward stabilizing a judicial system currently burdened by a backlog exceeding four lakh pending cases.
“The move is significant in view of the ever-increasing backlog of cases,” an official stated, noting that the shortage of bench strength has long hampered judicial efficiency across Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh. The recommendations are now awaiting formal approval from the President. Once finalized, the new appointees are expected to improve case disposal rates and provide essential relief to an overburdened institution.
