(a) whether courts including High Courts in the country do not have regular Chief Justices and many posts are lying vacant across the judiciary in the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor, State-wise and court-wise;
(c) the steps being taken by the Government to fill all the posts in each court within a timeframe; and
(d) the requests received from States in this regard and the action taken thereon?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR LAW AND JUSTICE AND CORPORATE AFFAIRS
(SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY)
(a) & (b): Yes, Madam. As of 20.12.2017 nine High Courts have acting Chief Justices. A statement indicating approved strength, working strength and vacant posts of Judges in Supreme Court and High Courts is at Annexure-I. A statement indicating the vacancies of Judges/Judicial officers in the District and Subordinate Courts is at Annexure-II.
(c) & (d): Filling up of vacancies in the High Courts is a continuous and collaborative process of the Judiciary and Executive involving various Constitutional Authorities. Hence, the precise time frame for filling up the post of Judges of Supreme Court and High Courts cannot be indicated. As per the existing Memorandum of Procedure, the process of appointment of Chief Justice of High Court must be initiated well in time by Chief Justice of India in consultation with Supreme Court Collegium to ensure its completion at least one month prior to the date of anticipated vacancy. The initiation of the proposal for appointment of Judges of the Supreme Court is done by the Chief Justice of India in consultation with a Collegium of four senior-most Judges of the Supreme Court. The Government of India has not received any proposal for filling up of the 6 vacancies of Judges in the Supreme Court and for appointment of Chief Justices in the nine High Courts which are functioning with acting Chief Justices.
The Supreme Court passed an order dated 16.12.2015 for improving the Collegium system of appointments by supplementing the existing Memorandum of Procedure (MoP). As the process was likely to take some time, at the initiative of the Government, the matter was taken up with Supreme Court and the appointment process was continued with the existing MoP. During 2016, 4 Judges in the Supreme Court and 14 Chief Justices of High Courts were appointed. Besides, 126 fresh appointments of Judges were made in High Courts which is the highest number in a calendar year. During 2017, as on 19.12.2017, 5 Judges in the Supreme Court, 8 Chief Justices of High Courts and 115 fresh appointments of Judges in the High Courts have been made.
The subject matter relating to filling up vacancies in the District and Subordinate Courts falls within the domain of the High Courts and the State Government concerned. The Central Government has no role in appointment of Subordinate Judiciary.
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ANNEXURE-I
Statement referred to in reply to parts (a) & (b) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1544 to be answered on 27.12. 2017.
(Position as on 20.12.2017)
Sl. No. Name of the Court Approved
Strength Working Strength Vacancies as per
Approved Strength
A. Supreme Court of India 31 25 06
B. High Court
1 Allahabad 160 109 51
2 Telangana & Andhra Pradesh 61 31 30
3 Bombay 94 70 24
4 Calcutta 72 33 39
5 Chhattisgarh 22 12 10
6 Delhi 60 37 23
7 Gauhati 24 18 06
8 Gujarat 52 31 21
9 Himachal Pradesh 13 08 05
10 Jammu & Kashmir 17 11 06
11 Jharkhand 25 14 11
12 Karnataka 62 25 37
13 Kerala 47 37 10
14 Madhya Pradesh 53 34 19
15 Madras 75 60 15
16 Manipur 05 02 03
17 Meghalaya 04 02 02
18 Orissa 27 17 10
19 Patna 53 33 20
20 Punjab& Haryana 85 50 35
21 Rajasthan 50 35 15
22 Sikkim 03 03 0
23 Tripura 04 02 02
24 Uttarakhand 11 10 01
Total 1079 684 395
Annexure-II
Statement referred to in reply to parts (a) & (b) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1544 to be answered on 27.12. 2017.
Vacancies of Judges / Judicial Officers in the District and Subordinate Courts
Sl. No States Vacancies as on 30.11.2017
1 Uttar Pradesh 1.344
2 Bihar** 825
3 Madhya Pradesh 748
4 Gujarat** 385
5 Tamil Nadu* 341
6 Karnataka** 325
7 Delhi** 316
8 Jharkhand** 251
9 Orissa 204
10 Maharashtra 149
11 Haryana 147
12 Punjab 136
13 Andhra Pradesh & Telangana** 114
14 Rajasthan** 96
15 West Bengal and A & N Island** 84
16 Assam 76
17 Kerala** 73
18 Chhattisgarh 63
19 Uttarakhand** 61
20 Meghalaya 58
21 Jammu & Kashmir 39
22 Mizoram 33
23 Tripura 31
24 Manipur 18
25 Pondicherry* 14
26 Goa 12
27 Arunachal Pradesh 11
28 Nagaland 11
29 Himachal Pradesh** 10
30 Sikkim** 8
31 Lakshadweep** 1
32 Chandigarh 0
33 D & N Haveli AND Daman & Diu** 0
Total 5,984
* as on 7.11.2017
**as on 31.10.2017
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