Delhi High Court: A Public Interest litigation (‘PIL’) was filed for issuance of an appropriate writ, order, or direction, directing the respondents to set up Commercial Courts in Delhi, in furtherance of the decision taken by the Cabinet of the Government of Delhi for creation of 22 Commercial Courts and 42 additional posts of judges in Delhi. The Division Bench of Satish Chandra Sharma, C.J., and Sanjeev Narula, J., directed that the Delhi High Court (‘High Court’) shall ensure that all the Commercial Courts were made fully functional as and when the infrastructure was available and Officers were available to be appointed to the post of District Judge, Commercial Courts.
A detailed and exhaustive status report was filed on behalf of the Delhi High Court and it stated that out of 64 posts of District Judge, Commercial Courts sanctioned as on 27-03-2023, there were 35 posts which were filled, meaning there were 35 Commercial Courts which functioned in Delhi at the time of filing of the affidavit. The Counsel for the High Court had brought to the notice of the Court that there were presently 46 Commercial Courts which were functioning in Delhi. It was further stated that steps were being taken to ensure that all the 64 sanctioned posts of District Judges, Commercial Courts, were filled at the earliest and the process for filling up the vacant posts was ongoing.
The Court opined that there was an improvement in the matter of establishment of Commercial Courts and steps were being taken to fill up the remaining posts of District Judges, Commercial Courts, and therefore there was no need to pass further orders in the present case. The Court disposed of the PIL and directed that the High Court shall ensure that all the Commercial Courts were made fully functional as and when the infrastructure was available and Officers were available to be appointed to the post of District Judge, Commercial Courts.
[Amit Sahni v. High Court of Delhi, 2023 SCC OnLine Del 6718, Order dated 10-10-2023]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For the Respondents: Mr. C. George Thomas, Mr. Gaurav Agrawal, Mr. Manav Daga, Mr. Arun Panwar, Mr. Kartik Sharma, Mr. Rishabh Srivastava, Advocates; Mr. Santosh Kumar Tripathi, Standing Counsel (Civil)
