(a) whether four senior judges of the Supreme Court came together to flag some issues in January, if so, the details thereof and the steps that have been taken to address those issues; and
(b) the number of vacancies in High Courts for the last five years, court-wise?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR LAW AND JUSTICE AND CORPORATE AFFAIRS
(SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY)
(a): The Government has not received any information from the Judiciary in this regard. However, issues relating to the Judiciary have been highlighted in the media with some related representations. Judiciary being an independent organ under the Indian Constitution is capable of handling its internal matters. The
Government is committed to the independence of Judiciary and does not intervene in its functioning.
(b) : A Statement showing the number of vacant posts of Judges, High Courts wise for the last five years, is annexed.
*****
Annexure
Statement referred to in reply to Part (b) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3637 to be answered on 08.08.2018 regarding ‘Issues in Judiciary.
Sl.
No. Name of the High Courts Vacancies as on 1st January Vacancies as on 01.08.2018
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
1 Allahabad 79 80 86 75 52 70
2 Telangana &
Andhra Pradesh 13 19 22 38 30 32
3 Bombay 19 08 35 32 24 25
4 Calcutta 11 19 16 34 39 35
5 Chhattisgarh 07 08 13 11 10 06
6 Delhi 07 19 21 22 23 25
7 Gauhati 09 12 08 07 06 07
8 Gujarat 11 12 24 21 21 23
9 Himachal Pradesh 04 06 06 03 05 05
10 Jammu & Kashmir 04 08 07 07 06 09
11 Jharkhand 09 11 11 12 11 08
12 Karnataka 12 27 31 32 37 32
13 Kerala 06 07 03 10 10 12
14 Madhya Pradesh 10 19 23 14 19 19
15 Madras 13 17 38 18 15 12
16 Manipur 02 01 02 02 03 02
17 Meghalaya 0 0 01 01 02 02
18 Orissa 05 07 05 09 10 13
19 Patna 11 11 25 22 20 23
20 Punjab& Haryana 21 29 35 38 35 35
21 Rajasthan 11 20 25 16 16 20
22 Sikkim 01 01 01 01 0 01
23 Tripura 0 0 0 01 02 01
24 Uttarakhand 02 05 05 04 02 03
Total 267 346 443 430 398 420