(a) the number of posts of judges lying vacant in various High Court benches in the country, State-wise and bench-wise;
(b) the time since when the said posts have been lying vacant along with the reasons therefor;
(c) the time by which the said posts are likely to be filled up;
(d) the bench-wise number of pending cases; and
e) the efforts being made by the Government to fill up the said posts and reduce the number of pending cases?
ANSWER
Minister of State for Law and Justice and Electronics and Information Technology.
(SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY)
(a) to (e) : As on 01.12.2016, 431 posts are vacant in various High Courts, which include 173 newly created posts in the High Courts during the period 2014 to 2016. Vacancies do keep on arising on account of retirement, resignation, elevation of Judges, increase in Judge Strength etc. A statement indicating sanctioned strength, working strength and vacant posts of Judges in High Courts is placed at Annexure.I
The Supreme Court vide its Order dated 16.12.2015 on improvement in the ‘Collegium System” have directed that the Government of India may finalize the existing Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) by supplementing it in consultation with the Supreme Court Collegium. The Government of India after due deliberations proposed changes in the existing MoPs. The changes proposed in the draft MoP’s were sent to the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India vide letter dated 22.3.2016. The response of the Supreme Court was received on 25.5.2016 and 01.07.2016. The views of the Government were conveyed to the Chief Justice of India on 3.8.2016.
: 2 :
As the process of finalization of the revised Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) for appointment of Judges to the Supreme court and High courts was likely to take some time, on the initiative of the Government of India the matter was taken up with the Supreme Court and the process of appointment of Judges has been resumed, pending finalization of the revised MoP. Presently, all appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court and High Courts are being processed as per the existing MoP.
During the current year, as on 09.12.2016, 126 fresh appointment of Judges have been made to the High Courts and 124 Additional Judges of High Courts have been made Permanent.
Delay in filling up of vacancies is due to the fact that the High Courts are not initiating the proposals six months prior to the occurrence of the vacancies. Other reasons are around 30% rejection of recommendations of High Court Collegiums by the Supreme Court Collegium and recommendations are yet to be received for about 50% vacancies from the High Courts.
A Statement indicating number of pending cases in the High Courts as on 31.12.2015 is at Annexure.II. Disposal of pending cases in courts is within the domain of Judiciary. The Government has adopted a co-ordinated approach to assist judiciary for phased liquidation of arrears and pendency in judicial systems, which, inter-alia, involves better infrastructure for courts including computerisation, increase in strength of judicial officers/judges, policy and legislative measures in the areas prone to excessive litigation and emphasis on human resource development.
***
Annexure-I
Statement referred to in reply to parts (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.4590 due for answer on 14.12.2016 showing the Approved strength, Working Strength and Vacancies of Judges in the High Courts
(As on 01.12.2016)
Sl. No. Name of the High Court Approved Strength Working Strength Vacancies as per
Approved Strength
1 Allahabad 160 87 73
2 High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad 61 23 38
3 Bombay 94 62 32
4 Calcutta 72 38 34
5 Chhattisgarh 22 11 11
6 Delhi 60 39 21
7 Gauhati 24 17 07
8 Gujarat 52 31 21
9 Himachal Pradesh 13 10 03
10 Jammu & Kashmir 17 10 07
11 Jharkhand 25 13 12
12 Karnataka 62 30 32
13 Kerala 47 38 09
14 Madhya Pradesh 53 39 14
15 Madras 75 57 18
16 Manipur 05 03 02
17 Meghalaya 04 03 01
18 Orissa 27 18 09
19 Patna 53 27 26
20 Punjab& Haryana 85 46 39
21 Rajasthan 50 34 16
22 Sikkim 03 02 01
23 Tripura 04 03 01
24 Uttarakhand 11 07 04
Total 1079 648 431
Annexure-II
Statement referred to in reply to parts (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.4590 due for answer on 14.12.2016 regarding pendency of cases in High Courts
Sl. No High Court Case Type Opening balance as on 01.01.2015 Institution Disposal Pendency As on 31.12.2015
1 Allahabad Civil 552302 144815 137618 559499
Criminal 348547 138463 127680 359330
Total 900849 283278 265298 918829
2 Andhra Pradesh Civil 216157 63004 47100 232061
Criminal 33544 19257 14590 38211
Total 249701 82261 61690 270272
3 Bombay Civil 189946 70588 60632 199902
Criminal 42869 24847 21177 46539
Total 232815 95435 81809 246441
4 Calcutta Civil 186391 52716 57763 181344
Criminal 40052 17371 17485 39938
Total 226443 70087 75248 221282
5 Delhi Civil 51464 31578 30080 52962
Criminal 15525 14401 14104 15822
Total 66989 45979 44184 68784
6 Gujarat Civil 57670 29731 30701 56700
Criminal 30330 30746 30704 30372
Total 88000 60477 61405 87072
7 Gauhati Civil 20410 12694 11935 21169
Criminal 4848 2187 2256 4779
Total 25258 14881 14191 25948
8 Himachal Pradesh Civil 27118 10622 16816 20924
Criminal 4707 3393 2491 5609
Total 31825 14015 19307 26533
9 Jammu &Kashmir Civil 49660 14214 11766 52108
Criminal 3492 1848 995 4345
Total 53152 16062 12761 56453
10 Karnataka Civil 196677 128304 107346 217635
Criminal 17443 16981 14605 19819
Total 214120 145285 121951 237454
11 Kerala Civil 109392 71815 59901 121306
Criminal 36514 21100 21551 36063
Total 145906 92915 81452 157369
12 Madras Civil 228914 97889 76670 250133
Criminal 34655 64124 64484 34295
Total 263569 162013 141154 284428
13 Madhya Pradesh Civil 166958 70487 65592 171853
Criminal 91755 62487 52268 101974
Total 258713 132974 117860 273827
14 Orissa Civil 163119 35175 67546 130748
Criminal 38963 37300 37558 38705
Total 202082 72475 105104 169453
15 Patna Civil 81256 27073 29227 79102
Criminal 56995 62944 70303 49636
Total 138251 90017 99530 128738
16 Punjab & Haryana Civil 209167 68635 68958 208844
Criminal 70532 59985 51010 79507
Total 279699 128620 119968 288351
17 Rajasthan Civil 170222 51034 38755 182501
Criminal 58131 45820 41586 62365
Total 228353 96854 80341 244866
18 Sikkim Civil 68 144 131 81
Criminal 40 63 70 33
Total 108 207 201 114
19 Uttarakhand Civil 16669 9999 8108 18560
Criminal 6436 7272 5588 8120
Total 23105 17271 13696 26680
20 Chhattisgarh Civil 28209 16996 14069 31136
Criminal 16868 13930 11823 18975
Total 45077 30926 25892 50111
21 Jharkhand Civil 42490 9700 9620 42570
Criminal 38325 21218 21694 37849
Total 80815 30918 31314 80419
22 Tripura Civil 3772 2197 3484 2485
Criminal 693 747 888 552
Total 4465 2944 4372 3037
23 Manipur Civil 2903 1843 1567 3179
Criminal 120 60 44 136
Total 3023 1903 1611 3315
24 Meghalaya Civil 497 579 500 576
Criminal 20 73 72 21
Total 517 652 572 597
All High Courts Total civil 2771431 1021832 955885 2837378
All High Courts Total criminal 991404 666617 625026 1032995
Grand Total of all High Courts 3762835 1688449 1580911 3870373