Advocates Association Bengaluru Calls Dharna Outside Karnataka High Court Over Judicial Vacancies, Infrastructure Failures

The Advocates Association Bengaluru (AAB) has called a dharna outside the Karnataka High Court on July 16, 2026, citing the “intransigence” and “overall cold response” of the High Court administration to months of documented grievances about judicial vacancies and failing court infrastructure.

According to LiveLaw, advocates have been requested to assemble before the Golden Jubilee Gate of the Karnataka High Court at 11:30 AM on July 16, 2026, to register their collective protest against what the AAB describes as an unprecedented breakdown in the functioning of Bengaluru’s court complexes.

Background: How We Got Here

The decision to hold the dharna was taken during an emergent meeting of the AAB’s Governing Council on July 13, 2026, according to LiveLaw. The meeting was convened after the association concluded that formal channels had yielded no results.

The AAB had formally communicated its grievances through letters as far back as April 2026 and in several earlier correspondences, covering all court complexes in Bengaluru — including the City, Magistrate, High Court, and Mayo Hall units. No positive response was received from the administration.

• As many as 20 courts in the Bangalore City Civil Courts are currently running without judges, a situation the AAB described as “unprecedented” in its letter to members, per LiveLaw.
• The new annex building of the magistrate court has only one functional elevator serving all seven floors — a condition the AAB publicly called “pathetic,” according to LiveLaw.
• Litigants before the Karnataka High Court are suffering significant delays, and fresh matters are not receiving posting dates, as reported by LiveLaw.

The vacancy crisis at the High Court itself has a longer history. As reported by Bar & Bench and Indian Masterminds, the Karnataka High Court was operating with only 45 judges against a sanctioned strength of 62 as of mid-2025 — leaving 17 positions vacant across its three benches in Bengaluru, Dharwad, and Kalaburagi.

On July 4, 2025, the AAB wrote to Chief Justice of India BR Gavai urging expedited judicial appointments to the Karnataka High Court, as reported by Bar & Bench. That letter warned of “years of virtual stagnation in appointments” and flagged thousands of old civil matters pending for years, with even “B group” writ matters not being listed for hearing.

The Protest & Demands

This is a planned protest action, not a court ruling. As of July 16, 2026, no judicial order or administrative response from the Karnataka High Court or its Chief Justice has been reported in connection with the AAB’s latest round of grievances.

The AAB’s communication to its members made the vacancy problem starkly clear. In its letter, the association stated: “As many as 20 courts in Bangalore City Civil Courts are empty without Judges, resulting in delays for litigants. This situation is unprecedented.”

The association’s earlier letter to CJI BR Gavai had framed the deeper structural problem in equally urgent terms: “Due to years of virtual stagnation in appointments there is no addition to the depleting strength of judges in Karnataka High Court.” — as reported by Bar & Bench.

The AAB’s grievances span the full breadth of Bengaluru’s judicial infrastructure. Beyond vacancies, the single operational lift in the seven-floor magistrate court annex building stands as a concrete symbol of administrative neglect that the bar body says has gone unaddressed despite repeated complaints.

Reactions & What’s Next

No response from the Karnataka High Court administration or the Chief Justice has been reported in the sources available at the time of publication. The AAB has characterised the administration’s posture as one of “intransigence” and a “cold response” to its repeated communications, according to LiveLaw.

The dharna at the Golden Jubilee Gate on July 16, 2026 at 11:30 AM is the AAB’s most direct public escalation to date. Whether it prompts a formal administrative response remains to be seen. The association’s documented outreach — spanning letters to the High Court administration and directly to CJI BR Gavai — reflects a bar body that has exhausted quieter avenues.

The situation will be closely watched by the legal community across Karnataka, particularly given that the subordinate court vacancy crisis has deepened in the year since the AAB’s 2025 letter to the CJI went unaddressed.