NEW DELHI: Chief Justice of India H L Dattu is worried about the huge vacancy in judges posts in high courts caused by the lingering vacuum on appointment of judges to the higher judiciary.

The vacuum has been caused by notification of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC), replacing the two-decade-old collegium system. While the collegium system, as per the government, is dead and gone, the NJAC is still to become functional as the Supreme Court is yet to pronounce its verdict on petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the new system.

As there is no functional procedure for appointment of judges to the SC and HCs, the vacancies have piled up. There has been no collegium meeting since March and the CJI, who heads the NJAC, has refused to participate in its meetings during pendency of the petition in SC, rendering the new body non-functional.

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Dealing with a plea by relatives of those killed in the 2002 post-Godhra communal riots seeking expeditious decision on appeals by accused challenging their conviction in Dipda Darwaja case, a bench headed by Justice Dattu said, “The request for a direction to the HC to expeditiously decide the appeals is just not possible. More than 40% of the judges are not in place. Please understand the burden on my judges.”

The CJI asked the petitioner’s counsel Sanjay Hegde to approach the HC with the request. It refused to entertain the petition which sought cancellation of bail granted to the accused by the HC.

On July 31, 2012, a designated fast-track court in Mehsana had sentenced 21 persons to life imprisonment and another to one-year imprisonment in the Dipda Darwaja case. It had acquitted 61 persons.

A family of 11, including four children and a 65-year-old woman, was killed in the mob attack at a house in the Dipda Darwaja locality of Visnagar town in north Gujarat on February 28, 2002, a day after the Godhra train carnage.

Amicus curiae Harish Salve said the designated trial court judge dealing with the Gulbarg Society massacre case has sent a request seeking more time to complete the hearing. He said the court was hearing final arguments and had already examined 338 witnesses.

“When he writes the judgment, he has to consider the statements of 338 witnesses and should be given at least three months to complete the proceedings and pronounce verdict,” Salve said.

The bench, also comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and M Y Eqbal, extended the deadline by three months for completion of trial in the Gulbarg Society case. Eight accused in the case had sought bail by writing a letter petition, which the court refused to entertain asking them to wait for three more months.