Justice in overload: Amid staff crunch at Delhi’s lower courts, leaves cancelled

There should be over 1,600 stenographers in the courts. Each stenographer — there are around 1,150 — on average, has to write 20 orders per day. Some have to deal with as many as 200 cases a day. Apart from this, their work involves keeping a record of multiple case files and administrative work.

There are close to 800 judges as of January 2025 — the sanctioned posts are 897. Each day, close to 30 cases are heard by a single judge, with some cause lists having as many as 200 items.

The Indian Express has learnt that 450 court staff are being recruited to meet the acute shortage; 99 were recruited recently.

In the interim, to tackle the crisis, the leaves of around 40 staff have been cancelled.

“Owing to acute shortage of staff, it is hereby ordered that leaves of officials whose names are mentioned in the list overleaf are hereby cancelled/declined, in official exigency. The officials concerned are directed to join their duties immediately at 10 am on 26.05.2025, failing which salary would be stopped and departmental action would be taken against the erring official/officials,” read a May 24 order issued by Principal District and Sessions Judge (East District) Vinod Kumar.

Of the 42 officers whose leaves were cancelled, four had applied for child care leaves, one for a paternity leave, and three for medical leaves.

The dearth of stenographers in courts has been highlighted repeatedly.

In the first week of December, a circular was issued by the then Principal District and Sessions Judge-cum-Special Judge of Rouse Avenue Court read: “This is to bring to the notice of all that currently, Rouse Avenue District Court, New Delhi, is experiencing an acute shortage of senior PAs/PAs (stenographers). The requisitions for substitute stenographers being received on an almost daily basis from different courts, however, are more than the number of stenographers available in the office pool.”

“To meet the daily requirements of stenographers, it has become necessary to withdraw one regular stenographer posted in the court of DHJS (Delhi Higher Judicial Services) officers on rotational basis, starting from junior most officer, to ensure at least one stenographer is made available in such courts where no stenographer is available on a particular day,” the judge had pointed out in the circular. The judge also urged DHJS officers to relieve their regular stenographers immediately on receiving an oral request from the Administration Branch of Rouse Avenue Court.

Other court staff The Indian Express spoke to flagged a plethora of problems: excessive workload on judges due to a shortage; one assistant ahlmad (record keeper) working in two courtrooms; and lack of storage to place files in record rooms, resulting in ahlmad rooms being flooded with them.

“More than 50 court staff have been diverted to multiple courts… in many courts, ahlmads are working on a rotational basis,” a court staff member said.