In the last three days, the government has notified the appointment of as many as 33 judges to high courts of Kerala, Allahabad, Rajasthan, Gauhati, Bombay, and Gujarat. They are all additional judges appointed as permanent judges in these six high courts. But this still remains a half-baked measure as it only addresses the question of judicial vacancies in a minuscule way. As on March 1, 2018, the 24 high courts in the country had a working strength of 673 judges, but 406 positions were vacant. The total sanctioned strength is 1,079 judges. The high courts have long pendency of cases, and among other reasons, the large number of vacancies of judges is also contributing to the delays in disposal of cases. On Tuesday, March 13, the government notified the appointment of Justice Ramalingam Sudhakar as the acting chief justice of the J&K high court. Justice Sudhakar is the senior-most judge of the J&K HC. According to law ministry notifications, five additional judges were made permanent in Kerala HC; four in the Allahabad HC; 10 in the Rajasthan HC; six in the Bombay HC; seven in the Gujarat HC and one in the Gauhati HC. Additional judges are appointed for a two-year tenure. Based on their performance during the tenure, these judges are made permanent.