Jaipur, July 22 (IANS) The Rajasthan High Court has received a significant boost in its judicial strength with the appointment of seven new judges.

As per a notification issued by the Union government, six of the newly appointed judges come from the advocate quota, while one is a serving judicial officer.

These appointments were made based on recommendations from the Supreme Court Collegium. This marks the second time in the history of the Rajasthan High Court that the number of judges has crossed the 40-mark.

The newly appointed lawyers include four practising in Jaipur and two from Jodhpur. Judicial officer Sangeeta Sharma has also been elevated to the bench. Before this development, the High Court had 36 judges.

With the addition of these seven, the total now stands at 43, against the sanctioned strength of 50. The last time the number of judges crossed 40 was in July 2023, when it had reached 41.

Among the new appointees, Sandeep Taneja has been designated as a permanent judge, while the remaining six have been appointed as additional judges.

The growing backlog of cases in the High Court has repeatedly raised concerns over judicial delays. As of April 2025, more than six lakh cases were pending in the Rajasthan High Court, with each judge handling an average caseload of approximately 16,000.

In March this year, during a judicial conference in Jaipur, a sitting judge of the Rajasthan High Court had publicly urged Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal to consider increasing the sanctioned strength of judges from 50 to 70.

Given that the Law Minister hails from Rajasthan, hopes remain high that the demand will receive due consideration.

–IANS

arc/dan