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Central Government Appoints Six New Judges to Allahabad High Court

New Delhi, April 17, 2025: The Central government on Tuesday (April 16) approved the appointment of six judicial officers as judges of the Allahabad High Court, as confirmed by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in a post on X (formerly Twitter).  

Newly Appointed Judges  

The judicial officers elevated as High Court judges are:  

1. Jitendra Kumar Sinha

2. Anil Kumar-X 

3. Sandeep Jain 

4. Avnish Saxena

5. Madan Pal Singh

6. Harvir Singh

Collegium Recommendations vs. Government Approval  

- Earlier this month, the Supreme Court Collegium had recommended eight names for appointment.  

- However, the Centre cleared only six names, leaving two recommendations pending.  

Vacancy Crisis in Allahabad High Court

- The Allahabad High Court, one of India’s largest, has a sanctioned strength of 160 judges.  

- As of April 1, 2025, it is functioning with only 79 judges, leaving more than 50% posts vacant.  

- A plea is pending before the High Court seeking urgent filling of vacancies to address the backlog of cases.  

Recent Appointments & Transfers 

- Earlier, the Centre had cleared the appointment of three judges to the Allahabad High Court by approving the transfer of:  

  1. Justice Yashwant Varma  

  2. Justice Chandra Dhari Singh 

  3. Justice Arindam Sinha

Next Steps

With the latest appointments, the working strength of the Allahabad High Court will rise to 85 judges, but 75 vacancies will still remain. The pending Collegium recommendations and further appointments will be closely watched.  

The move comes amid growing concerns over judicial delays due to shortage of judges in one of India’s busiest High Courts.  

(Further updates awaited.)

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