Ranchi, Feb. 27: The Jharkhand High Court Advocates? Association breathed a sigh of relief after the appointment of four new judges today.

?The strike we mounted on last year on the non-appointment of judges has finally yielded results,? said the secretary-general of Jharkhand High Court Advocates? Association, Deepak Kumar.

Senior judge S.J. Mukhopadhyay administered the oath of office and secrecy today, as Chief Justice Nelavoy Dhinakar was on leave. There are now 10 judges at the high court.

Sources said over 40,000 cases are pending with the high court. ?Our clients have a better chance of getting an early hearing now,? said Kumar.

The judges who administered the oath of office and secrecy were R.R. Prasad, Dilip Kumar Sinha, Dhananjay Prasad Singh and D.G.R. Patnaik.

Before their appointment as judges, they were working as registrar-general of Jharkhand High Court, registrar-vigilance of Jharkhand High Court, judicial academy director and judicial commissioner of Koderma, respectively.

Jharkhand High Court had received the notification for their appointment on January 24 after the Supreme Court collegium, the highest body deciding the appointment of judges, cleared their names.

The high court, with a sanctioned strength of 12 judges, is running short of judges after the retirement of Justices Vikramaditya Prasad, D.N. Prasad and H.S. Prasad.

The transfer of two judges V.D. Narayan and Tapen Sen to different high courts further reduced the number. The crisis at the high court worsened when former Chief Justice Altamas Kabir was elevated to the Supreme Court last year.

The issue of appointment of judges had been repeatedly raised before the judges of the Supreme Court. Exasperated by the large number of pending cases and pressure on the sitting judges of the high court, a PIL was filed for the appointment of judges in the high court. The case is still pending.

Though the post of chief justice was filled up by Madras High Court judge Nelavoy Dhinakar, who joined here in December last year, the high court did not come in its full strength causing problem for advocates and their clients.

The Jharkhand High Court Advocates? Association had gone on a month-long strike on October 19 last year for non-appointment of judges in the high court.