Mumbai: Judge vacancies at Bandra family court vexes litigants

Visibly disturbed the businessman said he had been waiting for his divorce case to be heard in the Bandra Family Court since October 2020 ldquoI canrsquot even meet my daughter who is now threerdquo said the 40yearold driven to despair by the delay He is among scores of litigants who are at their witsrsquo end as the posts of principal judge and judge have been lying vacant for over three monthsThe key vacancies have left the remaining six judges overburdened throwing the courtrsquos timelines out of kilter This has also prompted the Family Court Bar Association to appeal to the authorities to appoint the judges soon and relieve litigants of their lsquotarikh pe tarikhrsquo sufferingsThe cityrsquos family court is one of the biggest of its kind in India with eight courtrooms and it hears about 10000 matters per year The courts daytoday administration work runs under the direction of the principal judge who also runs court number 1 This apart court number 8 also hasnrsquot had a judge for more than 90 days though both courtrooms have adequate staffRecounting his emotional setback the businessman told midday ldquoI have been married for 10 years and three years ago my pregnant wife went to nurse her ailing father but hasnt returned to her marital home She filed for divorce and we had several counselling sessions but nothing happened My case is listed in court number 1 Initially it got delayed due to the pandemic and now there is no judge A normal administrative appointment could have given respite to many like me but how will lost time be regained The delay is hampering my personal and professional liferdquoAlso Read Mumbai Fraud exposed Mahimbased nursing homersquos licence cancelledNot just litigants but lawyers are also equally frustrated A senior lawyer who did not wish to be identified said he has two matters in court number 1 ldquoOne is for the custody and access to a fiveyearchild and the other is for recovery of arrears of maintenance Orders for both matters were passed long ago but as there is no judge in court 1 the order execution is still pending The cases of this court have been marked to incharge courts which are already overburdenedrdquoWith proceedings already slowed down by the pandemic the current state of affairs has compounded the woes of litigants who are dealing with disputes on the matrimonial custody and maintenance fronts Matters as old as five years are being partly heardSharing his suffering a 35yearold IT professional told midday ldquoIts been two years since my wife left me with my threeyearold child For the past two years I have been waiting for a oneline order from the court giving me permission to meet my son Many like me are suffering and the appointment of judges must be resolved soonrdquoThe Family Court Bar Association said it has made multiple requests to the authorities to fill the vacancies but in vain Advocate Sasi Nair president of the association said the court started in 1989 with six courtrooms which was increased to seven and the eighth was added six years ago He said the vacant positions for over three months have meant that the administrative work is handled by the incharge principal judge and a huge backlog of matters of court number 1 is allotted to other courtsNair added ldquoThe existing judges are overburdened due to the shortage of two judges now There is even a shortage of staff and infrastructure Therefore the judges staff advocates and litigants at the family court are all suffering We have made various representations to the high court but till now the issues are not resolved On September 15 a fresh representation was given to the present guardian judge HHJ Smt Bharati Dangre and we are waiting for a positive response and quick actionrdquo10kAvg no of cases heard in the court per year