Lok Sabha
The number of vacancies of judges in the Supreme Court is four and in various High Courts in the country, as on the 1st November, 2007 is one hundred.
Supreme Court has a strength of 22 judges against the sanctioned strength of 26. The various High Courts in the country have working strength of 589 judges against the sanctioned strength of 689 judges. All High Courts except Guwahati, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal had some shortfall in their strength.
Pursuant to the Judgement of the Supreme Court dated October 6, 1993 and their Advisory Opinion dated October 28, 1998, the proposals for appointment of Judges in the Supreme Court are to be initiated by the Chief Justice of India and for High Courts, the proposals are to be initiated by the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court. The Government has, however, been requesting the Chief Justices of the High Courts, from time to time, to initiate proposals for filling up of the present and anticipated vacancies during the next six months.
This information was given by Minister of Law and Justice, Shri H. R. Bhardwaj in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.
RS/AS
(Release ID :32791)