Vacant Posts Of Public Prosecutors: HC Pulls Up Delhi Govt, Seeks Fresh Status Report

The Delhi High Court has criticized the Delhi Government on Wednesday for failing to fill vacant posts of public prosecutors in District Courts.

While summoning the Government, the Court stated unequivocally that “if the Status Report is not filed and a proper explanation as to why the vacancies have not been filled, this Court will direct the personal appearance of the Law Secretary and other officers who are responsible for the delay.”

According to a ruling issued last week by the Justice Satish Chander Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad bench, “the criminal justice system is already beset by a significant backlog of cases, which can be resolved only if vacancies of Public Prosecutors are filled up as soon as possible.”

The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) is the only authority with the authority to fill these vacancies. As a last resort, GNCTD is given four weeks to expedite the process of filling vacant positions of Public Prosecutors. The court ordered that a new status report be filed before the next hearing date.

While hearing a suo motu writ petition regarding the improvement of the criminal justice system, the bench also noted that the “situation is alarming” when informed that 108 public prosecutors’ positions are vacant.

Advocate Ashish Dixit, who appeared on behalf of the Delhi Prosecutors Association, each public prosecutor is handling nearly three to four courts, which has brought the entire criminal justice system to a halt.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has also been given the final opportunity to file a reply in the matter as directed by this Court, failing which the Court will direct the personal appearance of the Secretary, DoPT, according to the Court.

The Court ordered the government to file an affidavit detailing the steps taken to fill the vacancies within four weeks, failing which the Law Secretary and other officials must appear in person on the next date of hearing, February 14, 2023.

The High Court had initiated its own petition regarding the poor condition of the prosecutors. The court was also informed that one of the reasons for the delay in the disposition of cases involving undertrials was a lack of prosecutors, as well as infrastructure and supporting staff for them.