(a) whether the Government has made any assessment regarding the shortage of judges and the vacant posts in the courts of the country and is so, the details thereof, State-wise;
(b) whether the process of recruitment has started against the said vacancies during the last three years and if so, the details thereof, State-wise; and
(c) whether any assessment has been made regarding the number of such vacant posts in Chhattisgarh and if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF LAW & JUSTICE, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a) to (c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. †*303 FOR ANSWER ON 17.03.2021 REGARDING ‘SHORTAGE OF JUDGES’.
(a) & (b):A Statement showing the sanctioned strength, working strength, vacancies and appointment of Judges made in Supreme Court and High Courts during the last three years i.e. 2018-2020 is at Annexure I. As per the Constitutional framework, the appointments of Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts are made under Articles 124, 217, and 224 of the Constitution of India respectively. Judges of the Supreme Court of India and High Courts are appointed as per the procedure laid down in the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) prepared in 1998 pursuant to the Supreme Court judgment of October 6, 1993 (Second Judges case) read with their Advisory Opinion of October 28,1998 (Third Judges case). As per MoP, initiation of proposal for appointment of Judges in the Supreme Court vests with the Chief Justice of India while the same for Judges in the High Courts vests with the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court. Therefore, the filling up of vacancies in the High Courts is a collaborative and integrated process between the Executive and the Judiciary. It requires consultation and approval from various Constitutional authorities both at the Centre and State.
A Statement showing the sanctioned strength and working strength of Subordinate Judiciary during the last three years i.e. 2018-2020 is at Annexure-II. Under Article 235 of the Constitution of India, the administrative control over the members of district and subordinate judiciary in the States vest with the concerned High Court. Further, in exercise of powers conferred under proviso to Article 309 read with Articles 233 and 234 of the Constitution, the respective State Government, in consultation with the High Court, frames the Rules and Regulations regarding the issues of appointment, promotion, reservations, etc. of Judicial Officers in the State Judicial Service. Hence, 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. Central Government has no role in the matter. Recruitment in the Subordinate judiciary is an ongoing and continuous process and each year vacancies are filled either fully or partially.
(c): Vacancies in Subordinate Judiciary are filled up every year in accordance with the time schedule prescribed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in its order dated 04.01.2007 passed in Civil Appeal no. 1867/2006 Malik Mazhar Sultan & Anr. vs. U.P. Public Service Commission. As per this time schedule, the vacancies for the category of District Judge (Entry Level) and Senior Civil Judge are to be notified commencing on 31st March of a calendar year and end by 31st October of the same year.
The sanctioned and working strength of Judicial Officers and vacancies in the Subordinate Judiciary in the State of Chhattisgarh as on 28.02.2021 is as follows:-
Sanctioned Strength Working Strength Vacancy
481 387 94
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ANNEXURE-I
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) & (b) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. †*303 FOR ANSWER ON 17.03.2021 REGARDING SANCTIONED STRENGTH, WORKING STRENGTH, VACANCIES AS ON 11.03.2021 AND APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES MADE IN SUPREME COURT AND HIGH COURTS DURING THE LAST THREE YEARS i.e. 2018-2020.
Sl. No. Name of the Court Sectioned Strength Working Strength Vacancies Number of appointment made during last three years i.e. 2018-2020
2018 2019 2020
A Supreme Court 34 30 04 08 10 -
B High Court -
1 Allahabad 160 96 64 28 10 04
2 Andhra Pradesh 37 19 18 - 02 07
3 Bombay 94 63 31 04 11 04
4 Calcutta 72 32 40 11 06 01
5 Chhattisgarh 22 14 08 04 - -
6 Delhi 60 31 29 05 04 -
7 Gauhati 24 20 04 02 04 -
8 Gujarat 52 30 22 04 03 07
9 Himachal Pradesh 13 10 03 - 02 -
10 High Court for UT of Jammu & Kashmir and UT of Ladakh 17 11 06 02 - 05
11 Jharkhand 25 17 08 03 02 -
12 Karnataka 62 46 16 12 10 10
13 Kerala 47 40 07 04 01 06
14 Madhya Pradesh 53 27 26 08 02 -
15 Madras 75 62 13 08 01 10
16 Manipur 05 05 0 - - 01
17 Meghalaya 04 04 0 01 01 -
18 Orissa 27 15 12 01 01 02
19 Patna 53 21 32 - 04 -
20 Punjab& Haryana 85 47 38 07 10 01
21 Rajasthan 50 23 27 - 03 06
22 Sikkim 03 03 0 - - -
23 Telangana 24 14 10 - 03 01
24 Tripura 05 04 01 01 - 01
25 Uttarakhand 11 07 04 03 01 -
Total 1080 661 419 108 81 66
ANNEXURE-II
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) & (b) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. †*303 FOR ANSWER ON 17.03.2021 REGARDING SANCTIONED AND WORKING STRENGTH, VACANCIES OF SUBORDINATE JUDICIARY DURING THE LAST THREE YEARS i.e. 2018-2020.
2018 2019 2020
Sl. No States &Uts Sanctioned Strength Working Strength Vacancy Sanctioned Strength Working Strength Vacancy Sanctioned Strength Working Strength Vacancy
1 Andaman and Nicobar 11 11 0 0 13 -13 0 13 -13
2 Andhra Pradesh 494 445 49 597 529 68 607 510 97
3 Arunachal Pradesh 30 25 5 41 27 14 41 32 9
4 Assam 430 383 47 441 412 29 466 412 54
5 Bihar 1845 1205 640 1925 1149 776 1936 1433 503
6 Chandigarh 30 30 0 30 29 1 30 26 4
7 Chhattisgarh 452 397 55 468 394 74 481 387 94
8 D & N Haveli 3 3 0 3 3 0 3 2 1
9 Daman & Diu 4 4 0 4 3 1 4 4 0
10 Delhi 799 541 258 799 681 118 799 649 150
11 Goa 50 42 8 50 43 7 50 40 10
12 Gujarat 1506 1150 356 1521 1185 336 1521 1152 369
13 Haryana 651 489 162 772 475 297 772 493 279
14 Himachal Pradesh 159 149 10 175 153 22 175 161 14
15 Jammu and Kashmir 310 224 86 290 232 58 296 255 41
16 Jharkhand 676 460 216 677 461 216 675 544 131
17 Karnataka 2614 2181 433 1345 1106 239 1357 1071 286
18 Kerala 496 433 63 536 457 79 538 470 68
19 Ladakh 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 8 8
20 Lakshadweep 3 3 0 3 3 0 3 3 0
21 Madhya Pradesh 1872 1361 511 2021 1620 401 2021 1610 411
22 Maharashtra 2011 1844 167 2189 1942 247 2190 1940 250
23 Manipur 55 40 15 55 39 16 54 36 18
24 Meghalaya 97 39 58 97 49 48 97 49 48
25 Mizoram 67 46 21 64 46 18 64 43 21
26 Nagaland 33 26 7 33 25 8 33 26 7
27 Odisha 911 755 156 919 770 149 950 756 194
28 Puducherry 26 19 7 26 11 15 26 11 15
29 Punjab 674 530 144 675 579 96 692 593 99
30 Rajasthan 1337 1108 229 1428 1121 307 1489 1292 197
31 Sikkim 23 19 4 25 19 6 25 20 5
32 Tamil Nadu 1143 905 238 1255 1080 175 1298 1049 249
33 Telangana 493 445 48 413 334 79 474 378 96
34 Tripura 115 75 40 120 96 24 120 97 23
35 Uttar Pradesh 3225 2037 1188 3416 2578 838 3634 2581 1053
36 Uttarakhand 293 234 59 294 228 66 297 255 42
37 West Bengal 1013 938 75 1014 918 96 1014 918 96
TOTAL 23951 18596 5355 23721 18810 4911 24247 19319 4928