Allahabad High Court, Lucknow Judge Shortage:
The Awadh Bar Association has expressed concern over the acute shortage of judges and increasing caseload in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court. The association has written a detailed letter to the Chief Justice of Uttar Pradesh demanding immediate appointment of at least 15 out of the 39 new judges appointed in 2025 to the Lucknow bench to ensure timely justice to litigants.
A letter dated September 30, 2025, signed by the association’s president S. Chandra and general secretary Lalit Tiwari, stated that the judicial system is being severely affected due to the shortage of judges and litigants are not getting timely justice.
According to the letter, Asia’s largest High Court bench, located in Lucknow, has 56 courtrooms, but the number of judges is significantly less. Currently, there are only 19 judges working in the Lucknow bench, where the backlog of cases and the number of new cases filed every day is very high.
The association said that a total of 39 new judges were appointed in Uttar Pradesh on various dates in 2025, including six on January 27, five on April 18, five on August 7, one on September 3, two on September 8 and 24 on September 24. However, not a single judge has been allotted to the Lucknow bench yet.
Allahabad High Court: The Awadh Bar Association raised several important issues in its letter:
Excessive workload
Judges working in the Lucknow bench suffer from excessive workload and work beyond their capacity, which is also adversely affecting their health.
Pending cases
Due to shortage of judges, the daily case list becomes very long, leading to the hearing of cases being stopped. Many important and urgent cases are not even heard, which adversely affects the concept of accessible justice.
Plight of litigants
Due to lack of hearing, litigants from far-flung countries are not able to get justice. The letter states, “Therefore, litigants are not getting justice in time as per the objectives of the government and the law.”
Specific Demand
In view of this problem, the association is strongly demanding that, “It is very urgent that at least 15 out of the 39 Hon’ble Judges appointed to the High Court in 2025 be posted to the Hon’ble High Court in Lucknow to hear litigants’ cases.”
Expectations from the Judiciary
The association believes that if 15 new judges are allotted to the Lucknow bench, it will not only reduce the workload of the existing judges but will also expedite the disposal of pending cases. This will ensure timely justice to litigants and strengthen their faith in the judiciary. The Bar Association has requested the Chief Justice to address this serious and important issue and increase the number of judges in the Lucknow bench to ensure fair administration of justice.
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