Lok Sabha Question No. 4590 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-12-14
Subject: Vacancy in High Court Benches
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: ARVIND GANPAT SAWANT, KRUPAL BALAJI TUMANE, REKHA ARUN VERMA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4590

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 14.12.2016

## Vacancy in High Court Benches

†4590. SHRI ARVIND SAWANT: SHRI KRUPAL BALAJI TUMANE: SHRIMATI REKHA VERMA:

Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state:

- (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.

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.

***

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     | Total                                 |                1079 |                648 |                                  431 |

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    | All High Courts Total civil    | 2771431 | 1021832 |  955885 | 2837378 |
| All High Courts Total criminal | All High Courts Total criminal |  991404 |  666617 |  625026 | 1032995 |
| Grand Total of all High Courts | Grand Total of all High Courts | 3762835 | 1688449 | 1580911 | 3870373 |