ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR LAW AND JUSTICE AND CORPORATE AFFAIRS
(SHRI P. P. CHAUDHARY)
(a) : Judicial Officers in District and Subordinate Courts are recruited and appointed by the respective High Courts and State Governments. Prosecutors are also recruited and appointed by the respective State Governments. As per the information made available by the State Governments / High Courts, State / UT-wise and category-wise details of sanctioned strength and vacancies of Judicial Officers in District and Subordinate Courts are given in Statement at Annexure – I.
(b) & (e): 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, in certain States recruitment is done by the High Courts, whereas in other States, the recruitment is done by High Courts in consultation with State Public Service Commission.
In August, 2018, the Minister of Law & Justice had written to all the Chief Justices of all the High Courts that increasing pendency of cases is a source of concern both the Government and Judiciary; one of the underlying reasons behind the high pendency is sometimes the inordinate delay in filling up the vacancies of judicial officers. It was, accordingly, requested that the High Court may monitor the status of the vacancies regularly and to ensure proper coordination with the state Public Service Commission so that the examination and interviews are conducted in accordance with the time schedule prescribed by the Supreme Court in the Malik Mazhar Sultan case.
(c) & (d): As per the information available, a list of National and State Judicial Academies is given in Statement at Annexure – II. The Central Government does not maintain the details of trainings imparted to the Judicial Officers and Prosecutors.
(f) : The appointment of Judges and Judicial Officers in the District and Subordinate Courts falls within the domain of the High Courts and State Governments concerned in which the Central Government has no role. However, in order to facilitate regular filling up of these vacancies in a smooth and time-bound manner, the Department of Justice vide its letter dated 28th April, 2017 suggested certain options to the Hon’ble Supreme Court for creation of a Central Selection Mechanism. The Hon’ble Supreme Court suo motu converted the Government’s suggestions into a writ petition on 09th May, 2017 and directed all State Governments (including Union Territories) to file their responses and suggestions by way of affidavits. The above matter is subjudice at present.
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Annexure – I
Statement referred to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1410 for reply on 19th December, 2018.
Category-wise Sanctioned Strength and Vacancies of Judicial Officers of District and Subordinate Courts as on 30.09.2018.
Sr. No. Name of State / UT Number of Judicial Officers of Higher Judicial Service as on 30.09.2018 Number of Judicial Officers of Subordinate Judicial Service as on 30.09.2018 Total Sanctioned Strength as on 30.09.2018 Total Vacancy as on 30.09.2018
Sanctioned Strength Vacancy Sanctioned Strength Vacancy
1 Andaman & Nicobar Islands 4 0 7 0 11 0
2 Andhra Pradesh and Telangana 234 22 753 75 987 97
3 Arunachal Pradesh 10 3 20 2 30 5
4 Assam 111 14 319 33 430 47
5 Bihar 557 227 1288 395 1845 622
6 Chandigarh 10 0 20 0 30 0
7 Chhattisgarh 218 72 234 -17 452 55
8 Daman and Diu 0 0 4 0 4 0
9 Dadra and Nagar Haveli 0 0 3 0 3 0
10 Delhi 276 15 523 243 799 258
11 Goa 11 1 39 7 50 8
12 Gujarat 374 96 1132 260 1506 356
13 Haryana 200 21 451 141 651 162
14 Himachal Pradesh 49 5 110 5 159 10
15 Jammu & Kashmir 78 14 232 72 310 86
16 Jharkhand 237 75 439 141 676 216
17 Karnataka 346 71 961 160 1307 231
18 Kerala* 154 20 342 43 496 63
19 Lakshadweep* 1 0 2 0 3 0
20 Madhya Pradesh 681 139 1191 372 1872 511
21 Maharashtra 389 66 1622 101 2011 167
22 Manipur 24 7 31 8 55 15
23 Meghalaya 46 35 51 23 97 58
24 Mizoram 17 4 50 17 67 21
25 Nagaland 14 3 19 4 33 7
26 Orissa 204 36 707 120 911 156
27 Puducherry 8 1 18 6 26 7
28 Punjab 191 18 483 126 674 144
29 Rajasthan 551 148 786 81 1337 229
30 Sikkim 13 3 10 1 23 4
31 Tamilnadu* 280 81 863 157 1143 238
32 Tripura 31 7 84 33 115 40
33 Uttar Pradesh 1336 394 1889 794 3225 1188
34 Uttarakhand 100 18 193 41 293 59
35 West Bengal 281 30 732 45 1013 75
Total 7036
1646
15608
3489
22644
5135
*As on 30.06.2018
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Annexure – II
Statement referred to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1410 for reply on 19th December, 2018.
List of Judicial Academies
1. National Judicial Academy, Bhopal.
2. Judicial Training & Research Institute, Uttar Pradesh.
3. Andhra Pradesh Judicial Academy
4. Maharashtra Judicial Academy, Thane.
5. West Bengal Judicial Academy.
6. Chhattisgarh State Judicial Acadey.
7. Delhi Judicial Academy, New Delhi.
8. Assam State Judicial Academy.
9. Gujarat State Judicial Academy.
10. Himachal Pradesh Judicial Academy.
11. Jammu & Kashmir State Judicial Academy.
12. Judicial Academy, Jharkhand.
13. Karnataka Judicial Academy
14. Kerala Judicial Academy
15. Madhya Pradesh State Judicial Academy.
16. Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy.
17. Odisha Judicial Academy
18. Bihar Judicial Academy
19. Chandigarh Judicial Academy
20. Rajasthan State Judicial Academy
21. Uttarakhand Judicial and Legal Academy.
22. Sikkim Judicial Academy.
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