Chandigarh, June 1 (IANS) Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul was Saturday administered the oath as the chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court here.
Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia administered the oath of office to Chief Justice Kaul at a ceremony at the Haryana Raj Bhavan here.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, ministers and senior officers of Haryana and Punjab and judges of the high court were present at the ceremony.
Interacting with the media persons after the oath, Chief Justice Kaul said his priorities would be to bring down the pendency of cases, which is currently about 11.51 lakh in district courts of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.
He said that the strength of judges of Punjab and Haryana High Court has gone down to 41 as against the sanctioned strength of 68 judges.
“Shortage of judges leads to pendency in the cases and the ideal strength should be between 50-55. To lessen the burden on the court, alternative dispute resolution should be strengthened,” the chief justice said.
A product of Delhi’s Modern School, Chief Justice Kaul practised in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court before being made a judge in the high court in May 2001.
