Lok Sabha Question No. 1544 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-12-27
Subject: Vacancy in Courts
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: KONAKALLA NARAYANA RAO, RAVINDRA VISHWANATH GAIKWAD, J.C. DIVAKAR REDDY

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1544

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 27.12.2017

## Vacancy in Courts

1544.  SHRI KONAKALLA NARAYANA RAO: PROF. RAVINDRA VISHWANATH  GAIKWAD: SHRI J.C. DIVAKAR REDDY:

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

- (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     | 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 &NIsland** | 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 &NHaveli AND Daman &Diu**  | 0                            |
| Total    | Total                        | 5,984                        |

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