Amid vacancy of 17 judges, Justice Sudhir Singh rejoins Patna High Court as second seniormost judge

Justice Sudhir Singh is back as the second seniormost judge of the Patna High Court. In November 2023, he was transferred from Patna High Court to the Punjab and Haryana High Court following the recommendation by the Supreme Court Collegium of Chief Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice B. R. Gavai and Justice Surya Kant. Justice Singh will retire on December 10, 2027. 

Reversing the recommendation of the previous Collegium, the current Supreme Court Collegium of Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, Justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, J.K. Maheshwari and B.V. Nagarathna in its meeting held on May 26, 2025 recommended repatriation of Justice Singh to the parent High Court. These recommendations are made keeping in mind  the idea of 'better administration of justice'. 

Pursuant to the recommendation of the Collegium, a notification dated July 14, 2025 was issued by the Appointments Division, Department of Justice, Ministry of Law & Justice, Government of India in this regard. In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 222 of the Constitution of India the President, after consultation with the Chief Justice of India  transferred Justice Singh Judge Punjab and Haryana High Court to be a Judge of Patna High Court and to direct him to assume charge of his office in the Patna High Court.

Notably, Supreme Court Collegium comprising of Chief Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice B. R. Gavai and Justice Surya Kant had reiterated its recommendation to transfer him to Punjab and Haryana High Court. The resolution of the Collegium was reiterated on August 11, 2023 keeping in mind  the idea of 'better administration of justice'.

The Collegium had reiterated its recommendation dated August, 2023 after considering the representation of Justice Singh and after consultation with the senior judges of the Patna High Court. Justice Singh was transferred during the tenure of Justice Krishnan Vinod Chandran, the 44th Chief Justice of Patna High Court. Justice Chandran is currently a judge of the Supreme Court since January 16, 2025. He is going to retire on April 24, 2028. 

Subsequent to that Appointments Division, Department of Justice, Ministry of Law & Justice, Government of India had issued a notification dated October 18, 2023 to transfer Justice Singh, Judge of the Patna High Court to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. 

Justice Singh was elevated from the bar to be an additional judge of the Patna High Court on April 15, 2015 and was made a permanent judge on April 20, 2016. 

The High Court's approved judge strength is 53 but it is currently functioning only with 36 judges. As on November 30, 2022, the High Court was working with 34 judges. As of July 2025, the Court is functioning without its 17 judges. 

Kiran Rijiju, Union Minister of Law and Justice has informed Rajya Sabha that "Filling up of vacancies in the High Courts is a continuous, integrated and collaborative process between the Executive and the Judiciary. It requires consultation and approval from various constitutional authorities both at state and central level. While every effort is made to fill up the existing vacancies expeditiously, vacancies of Judges in High Courts do keep on arising on account of retirement, resignation or elevation of Judges and also due to increase in the strength of Judges." 

As per information provided by the minister in the Rajya Sabha in December 2022, the case load per judge in Patna High Court is 6631 cases, while the Case Clearance Rate (CCR) which is 114.39% in the Patna High Court. 

As of July 2025, 63,29,000 cases including 44,36,968 civil cases and 18,92,032 criminal cases are pending in the High Court due to paucity of judges.  Notably, 23% of the cases are more than 10 years old, 24% cases are 5-10 years old, 9% cases are 3-5 years old, 19% cases are 1-3 years old and 25% cases are less than 1 year old. 

The minister was replying to questions posed by Rakesh Sinha, MP in December 2022 regarding total strength of judges, number of vacancies and ime frame to fill them. The minister's reply and inaction during December 2022-July 2025 illustrates that quick delivery of justice is not a priority.