Maharashtra government says Court Managers’ issue stuck due to High Court’s delay

Mumbai,UPDATED: Dec 15, 2023 14:25 IST

The Maharashtra government has informed the Bombay High Court that delays on the court's part are hindering the regularisation of Court Managers' services statewide.

Initially, the Supreme Court had addressed the matter of Court Managers in 2018, directing that the services of existing Court Managers in any district should be regularised due to their essential role in the proper administration of the court. Across various high courts and district courts, 45 court managers have been appointed to manage administration.

Seeking direction for the Maharashtra government to regularise their services, the Court Managers approached the High Court, which subsequently issued such an order. However, Maharashtra Advocate General BB Saraf recently informed the bench of Justices GS Kulkarni and Jitendra Jain that despite the state's commitment to complying with the Supreme Court orders, further progress is hindered by the High Court's failure to forward the rules regarding the service conditions of Court Managers to the state government.

Saraf clarified that without the High Court providing these rules, the state government cannot approve the regularisation of the Court Managers' services appropriately. He emphasised that the state government would make a decision once the rules are received from the High Court.

Advocate Milind Sathe, representing the High Court, acknowledged the delay in the High Court responding to the government on the matter of framing rules, stating that it is pending consideration by the Chief Justice's appropriate committee.

Advocates Satish Talekar and Madhvi Ayyappan, representing the court managers, argued that the framework for the nature of duties performed by the Court Managers was already under consideration when the posts were created as a pilot project. They asserted that there should not be any further delay.

After considering all submissions, the bench concluded, "We feel that there ought not to be any further delay in this regard. We are, therefore, of the opinion that the Registry of the High Court shall place our orders before the Chief Justice for appropriate directions to be issued to the committee so constituted, for taking an early decision in regard to the finalisation of the rules for the posts of Court Managers."