Punjab and Haryana High Court manages judge appointments and legal challenges

The Punjab and Haryana High Court is addressing two distinct administrative and judicial developments. First, the court has issued a notice regarding a petition challenging new qualification requirements for general counsellors within the High Court Legal Services Committee (HCLSC). The petition argues that a recent mandate requiring both a Master’s degree in Psychology and a Bachelor’s degree in Law lacks rationale and unfairly impacts existing contract counsellors who only hold psychology degrees.

Separately, the Union Government has notified the appointment of nine advocates as Additional Judges to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The appointees include Haryana Advocate General Pravindra Singh Chauhan. These elevations, recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium, aim to address a significant judicial vacancy gap. The court is currently operating with 55 judges against a sanctioned strength of 85, managing a backlog of over 423,000 pending cases. These new appointments will increase the total strength to 64 judges.