Lok Sabha Question No. 3815 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-11
Subject: Recommendations of Law Commission
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Sushil Kumar Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3815

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 11 th  DECEMBER, 2019.

## Recommendations of Law Commission

## 3815.  SHRI SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH:

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

- (a) the details of the recommendations made by the Law Commission pertaining to dealing with the pending cases in the lower courts, high courts and the Supreme Court;
- (b)  the steps taken by the Government on the basis of these recommendations;
- (c) The details of sanctioned strength and the actual number of judges in lower courts and each high court separately;
- (d) the reasons for the gap in the sanctioned strength and the actual strength of judges in the lower judiciary as well as the high courts; and
- (e) the details of the steps taken by the Government to reduce this gap?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a) :  The Supreme Court, in the case of Imtiyaz Ahmed versus State of Uttar Pradesh & Others, inter-alia, asked the Law Commission of India to evolve a method for scientific assessment of the number of additional courts to clear the backlog of cases. In 245th report in the year 2014, the Law Commission observed that filing of cases per capita varies substantially across geographic units as filings are associated with economic and social conditions of the population. As such Law Commission did not consider the judge population  ratio  to  be  a  scientific  criterion  for  determining  the  adequacy  of  the  judge strength in the country. The Law Commission found that the 'Rate of Disposal' method, to calculate the number of additional judges required to clear the backlog of cases as well as to ensure that new backlog is not created, is more pragmatic and useful.

(b): In  May,  2014,  the  Supreme  Court  asked  the  State  Governments  and  the  High Courts to file their response to the recommendations made by the Law Commission.  In August  2014,  the  Supreme  Court  asked  the  National  Court  Management  System Committee (NCMS) to examine the recommendations made by the Law Commission and to furnish their recommendations in this regard.  NCMS submitted its report to the Supreme Court in March, 2016. It  has, inter-alia ,  observed  that  in  the  long  term,  the judge strength of the subordinate courts will have to be assessed by a scientific method to determine the total number of ' Judicial Hours ' required for disposing of the case load of  each  court.  In  the  interim,  the  Committee  has  proposed  a  ' weighted '  disposal approach - disposal weighted by the nature and complexity of cases in local conditions. As per the direction of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in its Order dated 02.01.2017, the Department of Justice has forwarded a copy of interim report of the NCMS Committee to  all  State  Governments and High Courts to enable them to take follow up action to determine the required Judges Strength of district judiciary based on the NCMS report.

(c): The sanctioned strength, working strength and vacancies in District & Subordinate Courts as on 05.12.2019 is given in Annexure-I and in High Courts as on 01.12.2019 in given in Annexure -II .

(d) and (e): Filling up of vacancies in the High Courts is a continuous, integrated and collaborative process between the Executive and the Judiciary. It requires consultation and approval from various Constitutional Authorities both at the State and Central level. While every effort is made to fill up the existing vacancies expeditiously, vacancies do keep  on  arising  on  account  of  retirement,  resignation  or  elevation  of  Judges  and increase  in  Judge  strength.  Sanctioned  strength  of  Judges  of  High  Courts  has  been increased  from  906  in  May,  2014  to  1079  currently.  Due  to  combined  efforts  of Government  and Judiciary, 126 Judges in 2016, 115 Judges in 2017, 108  Judges in 2018 and 72 Judges in 2019 (as on 05.12.2019) have been appointed in High Courts.

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. However, the Union Government, on its part, has been taking up the matter of filling up of vacant positions in District & Subordinate Courts with the States and High Courts.  In  August,  2018,  Union  Minister  of  Law  &  Justice  has  written  to  all  Chief Justices of High Courts to monitor status of vacancies regularly and to ensure proper coordination with State Public Service Commission to fill up vacant posts stipulated by Supreme Court in Malik Mazhar Sultan case. In addition, series of meetings were held with Registrars General of all High Courts and Law  Secretaries of all State Governments  /  UTs  through  Video  Conferencing  in  January,  2018,  July,  2018, November,  2018  and  September,  2019  to  follow  up  on  filling  up  posts  of  Judicial Officers  in  District  and  Subordinate  Courts.  Department  of  Justice  has  hosted  a  MIS web-portal  on  its  website  for  reporting  and  monitoring  of  sanctioned  and  working strength,  and  vacancies  of  Judicial  Officers  of  District  and  Subordinate  Courts  on monthly  basis.  Sanctioned  and  working  strength  of  Judicial  Officers  in  District  and Subordinate Courts has been increased as follows:

| As on      | Sanctioned Strength   | Working Strength   |
|------------|-----------------------|--------------------|
| 31.12.2013 | 19,518                | 15,115             |
| 05.12.2019 | 23,597                | 18,144             |

## Sanctioned Strength / Working Strength and vacancies in District & Subordinate Courts as on 05.12.2019

| Sr. No.   | Name of State / UT   |   Total Sanctioned Strength |   Total Working Strength |   Total Vacancy |
|-----------|----------------------|-----------------------------|--------------------------|-----------------|
| 1         | Andaman and Nicobar  |                           0 |                       13 |             -13 |
| 2         | Andhra Pradesh       |                         597 |                      529 |              68 |
| 3         | Arunachal Pradesh    |                          41 |                       27 |              14 |
| 4         | Assam                |                         441 |                      412 |              29 |
| 5         | Bihar                |                        1847 |                     1152 |             695 |
| 6         | Chandigarh           |                          30 |                       29 |               1 |
| 7         | Chhattisgarh         |                         468 |                      394 |              74 |
| 8         | D & N Haveli         |                           3 |                        3 |               0 |
| 9         | Daman & Diu          |                           4 |                        3 |               1 |
| 10        | Delhi                |                         799 |                      680 |             119 |
| 11        | Goa                  |                          50 |                       43 |               7 |
| 12        | Gujarat              |                        1506 |                     1185 |             321 |
| 13        | Haryana              |                         772 |                      475 |             297 |
| 14        | Himachal Pradesh     |                         175 |                      152 |              23 |
| 15        | Jammu and Kashmir    |                         290 |                      232 |              58 |
| 16        | Jharkhand            |                         677 |                      462 |             215 |
| 17        | Karnataka            |                        1345 |                     1106 |             239 |
| 18        | Kerala               |                         536 |                      461 |              75 |
| 19        | Lakshadweep          |                           3 |                        3 |               0 |
| 20        | Madhya Pradesh       |                        2021 |                     1504 |             517 |
| 21        | Maharashtra          |                        2189 |                     1942 |             247 |
| 22        | Manipur              |                          55 |                       39 |              16 |
| 23        | Meghalaya            |                          97 |                       49 |              48 |
| 24        | Mizoram              |                          64 |                       46 |              18 |
| 25        | Nagaland             |                          33 |                       25 |               8 |
| 26        | Odisha               |                         919 |                      771 |             148 |
| 27        | Puducherry           |                          26 |                       11 |              15 |
| 28        | Punjab               |                         675 |                      579 |              96 |
| 29        | Rajasthan            |                        1428 |                     1121 |             307 |
| 30        | Sikkim               |                          25 |                       19 |               6 |
| 31 Tamil  | Nadu                 |                        1224 |                     1087 |             137 |
| 32        | Telangana            |                         413 |                      334 |              79 |
| 33        | Tripura              |                         120 |                       96 |              24 |
| 34        | Uttar Pradesh        |                        3416 |                     2012 |            1404 |
| 35        | Uttarakhand          |                         294 |                      228 |              66 |
| 36        | West Bengal          |                        1014 |                      920 |              94 |
|           | TOTAL                |                       23597 |                    18144 |            5453 |

## Statement showing Sanctioned strength, Working Strength and Vacancies of Judges in High Courts (As on 01.12.2019)

| Sl. No.   | Name of the High Court   | Sanctioned Strength   | Sanctioned Strength   | Sanctioned Strength   | Working Strength   | Working Strength   | Working Strength   | Vacancies   | Vacancies   | Vacancies   |
|-----------|--------------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
|           | Name of the High Court   | Pmt.                  | Addl                  | Total                 | Pmt.               | Addl               | Total              | Pmt.        | Addl        | Total       |
| 1.        | Allahabad                | 76                    | 84                    | 160                   | 69                 | 31                 | 100                | 07          | 53          | 60          |
| 2.        | Andhra Pradesh           | 28                    | 09                    | 37                    | 15                 | 0                  | 15                 | 13          | 09          | 22          |
| 3.        | Bombay                   | 71                    | 23                    | 94                    | 56                 | 09                 | 65                 | 15          | 14          | 29          |
| 4.        | Calcutta                 | 54                    | 18                    | 72                    | 22                 | 18                 | 40                 | 32          | 0           | 32          |
| 5.        | Chhattisgarh             | 17                    | 05                    | 22                    | 11                 | 04                 | 15                 | 06          | 01          | 07          |
| 6.        | Delhi                    | 45                    | 15                    | 60                    | 37                 | 0                  | 37                 | 08          | 15          | 23          |
| 7.        | Gauhati                  | 18                    | 06                    | 24                    | 15                 | 06                 | 21                 | 03          | 0           | 03          |
| 8.        | Gujarat                  | 39                    | 13                    | 52                    | 28                 | 0                  | 28                 | 11          | 13          | 24          |
| 9.        | Himachal Pradesh         | 10                    | 03                    | 13                    | 09                 | 01                 | 10                 | 01          | 02          | 03          |
| 10.       | Jammu & Kashmir          | 13                    | 04                    | 17                    | 08                 | 0                  | 08                 | 05          | 04          | 09          |
| 11.       | Jharkhand                | 19                    | 06                    | 25                    | 14                 | 05                 | 19                 | 05          | 01          | 06          |
| 12.       | Karnataka                | 47                    | 15                    | 62                    | 19                 | 21                 | 40                 | 28          | -06         | 22          |
| 13.       | Kerala                   | 35                    | 12                    | 47                    | 27                 | 05                 | 32                 | 08          | 07          | 15          |
| 14.       | Madhya Pradesh           | 40                    | 13                    | 53                    | 31                 | 0                  | 31                 | 09          | 13          | 22          |
| 15.       | Madras                   | 56                    | 19                    | 75                    | 45                 | 09                 | 54                 | 11          | 10          | 21          |
| 16.       | Manipur                  | 04                    | 01                    | 05                    | 04                 | 0                  | 04                 | 0           | 01          | 01          |
| 17.       | Meghalaya                | 03                    | 01                    | 04                    | 03                 | 0                  | 03                 | 0           | 01          | 01          |
| 18.       | Orissa                   | 20                    | 07                    | 27                    | 14                 | 0                  | 14                 | 06          | 07          | 13          |
| 19.       | Patna                    | 40                    | 13                    | 53                    | 27                 | 0                  | 27                 | 13          | 13          | 26          |
| 20.       | Punjab& Haryana          | 64                    | 21                    | 85                    | 39                 | 17                 | 56                 | 25          | 04          | 29          |
| 21.       | Rajasthan                | 38                    | 12                    | 50                    | 21                 | 0                  | 21                 | 17          | 12          | 29          |
| 22.       | Sikkim                   | 03                    | 0                     | 03                    | 03                 | 0                  | 03                 | 0           | 0           | 0           |
| 23.       | Telangana                | 18                    | 06                    | 24                    | 12                 | 01                 | 13                 | 06          | 05          | 11          |
| 24.       | Tripura                  | 04                    | 0                     | 04                    | 03                 | 0                  | 03                 | 01          | 0           | 01          |
| 25.       | Uttarakhand              | 09                    | 02                    | 11                    | 09                 | 01                 | 10                 | 0           | 01          | 01          |
| Total     | Total                    | 771                   | 308                   | 1079                  | 541                | 128                | 669                | 230         | 180         | 410         |

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