ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR LAW AND JUSTICE AND CORPORATE AFFAIRS
(SHRI P. P. CHAUDHARY)
(a) to (d): Filling up of vacancies in the Supreme Court and the High courts is a continuous and collaborative process, between the Executive and the Judiciary. It requires consultation and approval from various Constitutional Authorities. Initiation of proposal for appointment of Judges in the Supreme Court vests with the Chief Justice of India, while initiation of proposals for appointment of Judges in the High Courts vests with the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court.
While every effort is made to fill up the existing vacancies expeditiously, vacancies in High Courts do keep on arising on account of retirement, resignation or elevation of Judges and also the increase in strength of Judges.
As per the Constitutional framework, the selection and appointment of judges in subordinate courts is the responsibility of the High Courts and State Governments concerned. In so far as recruitment of judicial officers in the States is concerned, respective High Courts do it in certain States, whereas the High Courts do it in consultation with the State Public Service Commissions in other States.
The Supreme Court, through a judicial order in Malik Mazhar case, has devised a process and time frame to be followed for the filling up of vacancies in subordinate judiciary. This order of January 2007 by the Supreme Court stipulates that the process for recruitment of judges in the subordinate courts would commence on 31st March of a calendar year and end by 31st October of the same year. The Supreme Court has permitted State Governments / High Courts for variations in the time schedule in case of any difficulty based on the peculiar geographical and climatic conditions in the State or other relevant conditions. Further, during the Joint Conference of the Chief Ministers of States and Chief Justices of the High Courts held in April 2016, the Conference on being apprised of:
(i) The large pendency of cases, both civil and criminal, in the district judiciaries; and
(ii) Nearly twenty three percent of the pending cases being over five years old,
resolved, inter alia, that all the State governments shall, in terms of the demands placed by the concerned High Courts for an increase in the cadre strength of the district judiciary provide for at least a minimum increase of ten percent per year in accordance with the judgement of the Supreme Court in Brij Mohan Lal versus Union of India.
(e): The details of number of Judges appointed in the last three years in Supreme Court and High Courts are given in the Statement at Annexure – I and the details of sanctioned / working strength and vacancy position of Judicial Officers in District and Subordinate Courts are given in the Statement at Annexure – II.
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Annexure – I
Statement referred to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4241 dated 21st March, 2018.
Number of Judges appointed in Supreme Court and High Courts during last three years.
Court (Supreme Court / High Courts) and type of appointment of Judges Year of appointment
2016 2017 2018
Judges appointed in the Supreme Court 04 05 --
Appointment of Chief Justices 14 08 04
Transfer of Chief Justices 04 -- 01
Judges appointed in the High Courts *126 115 11
Additional Judges made Permanent in High Courts *131 31 57
Additional Judges given fresh term 22 05 --
Transfer of Judges 33 05 01
New posts of Judges created in High Courts 35 -- --
*Highest ever in a given year.
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Annexure - II
Statement referred to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4241 for reply on 21.03.2018
Sanctioned Strength / Working Strength and Vacancies of Judicial Officers in District and Subordinate Courts during the last three years.
Sl. No Name of States/UTs Position of Judicial Officers as on 31.12.2015 Position of Judicial Officers as on 31.12.2016 Position of Judicial Officers as on 31.12.2017
Sanctioned Strength Working Strength Vacancies Sanctioned Strength Working Strength Vacancies Sanctioned Strength Working Strength Vacancies
1. Andhra Pradesh &Telangana 1034 785 249 1025 929 96 986 920 66
2. Arunachal Pradesh 17 15 2 26 17 9 28 17 11
3. Assam 424 319 105 424 311 113 429 352 77
4. Bihar 1727 1067 660 1825 1002 823 1828 993 835
5. Chhattisgarh 385 341 44 395 356 39 398 335 63
6. Goa 57 49 8 57 50 7 55 43 12
7. Gujarat 1939 1170 769 1502 1111 391 1496 1121 375
8. Haryana 644 474 170 644 501 143 645 496 149
9. Himachal Pradesh 152 134 18 155 147 8 159 148 11
10. Jammu & Kashmir 245 220 25 246 219 27 253 224 29
11. Jharkhand 592 466 126 673 448 225 672 419 253
12. Karnataka 1122 820 302 1300 913 387 1303 976 327
13. Kerala 457 442 15 491 427 64 535 450 85
14. Madhya Pradesh 1350 1132 218 2021 1240 781 2021 1293 728
15. Maharashtra 2251 1917 334 2094 1969 125 2097 1930 167
16. Manipur 41 35 6 34 25 9 49 40 09
17. Meghalaya 57 29 28 57 41 16 97 39 58
18. Mizoram 63 30 33 63 30 33 63 46 17
19. Nagaland 27 25 2 34 25 9 34 22 12
20. Odisha 716 598 118 862 601 261 862 656 206
21. Punjab 672 490 182 674 546 128 674 538 136
22. Rajasthan 1191 985 206 1205 1076 129 1225 1122 103
23. Sikkim 18 14 4 23 13 10 23 18 5
24. Tamil Nadu 1015 969 46 1047 939 108 1108 908 200
25. Tripura 104 68 36 106 77 29 107 76 31
26. Uttar Pradesh 2104 1827 277 3142 1728 1414 3204 1856 1348
27. Uttarakhand 280 206 74 291 218 73 291 230 61
28. West Bengal 959 900 59 1013 913 100 956 916 40
29. A & N Island 11 11 0
30. Chandigarh 30 30 0 30 30 0 30 30 0
31. D & N Haveli and Daman & Diu 7 6 1 7 6 1 7 7 0
32. Delhi 793 490 303 793 489 304 799 482 317
33. Lakshadweep 3 3 0 3 3 0 3 2 1
34. Puducherry 26 14 12 26 13 13 26 12 14
Total 20502
16070
4432
22288
16413
5875
22474
16728
5746
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