As Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking increase in the strength of judges, the government on Saturday appeared not enthused by the proposal.

Besides increasing the sanctioned strength of the judges, the CJI is also reported to have said that the retirement age of HC judges should be raised from 62 years to 65 and tenure appointments of retired SC judges and HC judges should be made under Article 128 and Article 224A of the Constitution, respectively, to deal with pendency.

But government sources wondered if it would solve the problem. “Why to increase the sanctioned strength of judges when a large number of existing posts remain vacant?” Government sources said.

At any point on time in recent years, more than 35 per cent of the sanctioned posts of HC judges remained vacant, they said, adding that at present the vacancy has gone up to 37 per cent as 399 of the 1,079 posts of judges in 25 High Courts await appointments. It’s only after a decade that all 31 posts of judges in the SC, including that of the CJI, have been filled.

Senior advocate and former SC Bar Association President Vikas Singh said, “All vacancies should be filled together. One fails to understand why vacancies in High Courts are filled up in a piecemeal manner.”

Singh said, “What is needed is a permanent secretariat for both Supreme Court Collegium and High Court collegiums to enable them to function in an efficient manner.”While 58,669 cases are pending in the Supreme Court, the number stands at 43 lakh in High Courts.