ORDER

1. It was about five years back that this Court directed that existing vacancies in the subordinate courts, at all levels, should be filled, if possible, latest by 31st March, 2003, in all the States. This direction is contained in the judgment All India Judges Association v. Union of India1. It has been noticed that an independent and efficient judicial system is one of the basic structure of our Constitution. If sufficient number of judges are not appointed, justice would not be available to the people thereby undermining the basic structure. The judicial system has been facing the problem arising out of delay in dispensation of justice for which one of the major cause is insufficient number of judges when compared to either the large number of cases pending or in relation to the average judge-population ratio going by the number of judges available in various other democracies in the world. In this light, it becomes all the more necessary to take all possible steps to ensure that vacancies in the courts are timely filled.

2. Mr. Vijay Hansaria, learned amicus curiae, in the written submission, has pointed out that according to the figures given by the News Letter issued by t