Lok Sabha Question No. 3843 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-11
Subject: Shortage of Judges
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: K. Shanmuga Sundaram, Harish Dwivedi, Prataprao Govindrao  Patil Chikhalikar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3843

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

## Shortage of Judges

3843.  SHRI SHANMUGA SUNDARAM K:

SHRI HARISH DWIVEDI:

SHRI PRATAPRAO PATIL CHIKHLIKAR:

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

- (a)  whether  there  is  an  acute  shortage  of  judges  from  lower  courts  to  the Supreme Court in the country resulting in difficulty in delivering justice and if  so, the details of the shortage pertaining to vacancies in all courts in the country including Tamil Nadu;
- (b)   whether the Government has taken steps and fixed any time limit to fill the vacancies to address the shortage of judges and if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  whether the Government is having any specific proposal to bring the Court Management System in a transparent manner and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d)  the  number  of  male  and  female  judges  in  the  Supreme  Court  and  various High Courts at present and the number of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Judges out of the total judges?

## ANSWER

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

## (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a): As per the information made available by High Courts on the MIS web-portal of the Department of Justice, the sanctioned strength, working strength and vacancies of Judicial Officers in District and Subordinate Courts, State/UT-wise, including the State of  Tamil  Nadu,  as  on  05.02.2019,  is  given  in Annexure  I .  A  statement  showing vacancies in the Supreme Court and High Courts, including the Madras High Court, as on 01.12.2019 is given in Annexure II .

(b): As  per  the  Memorandum  of  Procedure  for  appointment  and  transfer  of  Chief Justices and Judges of High Court, the Chief Justice of the High Court is required to initiate the proposals for filling up of vacancies of Judges in the High Court six months prior to the occurrence of vacancies. However, this timeline is rarely adhered to. Filling up of  vacancies  in  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 Centre 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. 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             |

(c): The  Supreme  Court  of  India  with  an  objective  to  revisit  and  implement  the recommendations of Law Commission of India in its various reports to promote Court Management,  Case  Management  and  improve  Administration  of  Justice,  established the  scheme  of  National  Court  Management  Systems  (NCMS)  in  2012  for  enhancing timely  justice  under  overall  control  of  Chief  Justice  of  India.    A  National  Court Management System Committee(NCMS Committee) was constituted by the Supreme Court to facilitate development of policy initiative in order to reform and strengthen the judicial system and enhance quality, responsiveness and timely of judicial administration. The Policy and Action Plan of the NCMS provides for proposals to be developed by the NCMS Committee on setting measurable performance standards for courts,  adoption  of  case  management  systems,  standardization  of  judicial  data  and statistics and adoption of human resource plan for courts.  The plan, inter-alia , outlines a broad framework for case management, which includes settling issues, encouraging parties to resort to Alternate Dispute Resolution, extensive use of Order X of Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 in civil matters and fixing a time schedule for resolution of cases. However, it was left open to High Courts to implement the recommendations relating to case management. All High Courts have constituted State Court Management System (SCMS) Committee to do similar exercise  at  the State  Level.  Similarly,  District  Court Management System Committee has been constituted at the District level.

(d): Appointment  of  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  High  Courts  is  made  under Article  124  and  217  of  the  Constitution  which  does  not  provide  for  reservation  for  any caste or class of persons. Therefore, no caste or class wise data of Judges is maintained. However,  the  Government  been  requesting  the  Chief  Justices  of  the  High  Courts  that while  sending  proposals  for  appointment  of  Judges,  due  consideration  be  given  to suitable candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, women and  Minorities. The number of women Judges working in the Supreme Court  is  three  (3).  High  Court  wise  position  in  respect  of  Women  Judges  is  given  in Annexure III .

*****

## 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 |

## Sanctioned strength, Working Strength and Vacancies of Judges in the Supreme Court of India and High Courts (As on 01.12.2019)

| Sl. No.   | Name of the Court      | Sanctioned Strength   | Sanctioned Strength   | Sanctioned Strength   | Working Strength   | Working Strength   | Working Strength   | Vacancies   | Vacancies   | Vacancies   |
|-----------|------------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
| A.        | Supreme Court of India | 34                    | 34                    | 34                    | 33                 | 33                 | 33                 | 01          | 01          | 01          |
| B.        | 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     |                        | 771                   | 308                   | 1079                  | 541                | 128                | 669                | 230         | 180         | 410         |

High Court wise position in respect of Women Judges

| Sl. No.   | Name of the High Court                                                          |   Women Judges |
|-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------|
| 1         | Allahabad                                                                       |             06 |
| 2         | Andhra Pradesh                                                                  |             03 |
| 3         | Bombay                                                                          |             08 |
| 4         | Calcutta                                                                        |             06 |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh                                                                    |             02 |
| 6         | Delhi                                                                           |             08 |
| 7         | Gauhati                                                                         |             01 |
| 8         | Gujarat                                                                         |             04 |
| 9         | Himachal Pradesh                                                                |             01 |
| 10        | High Court for Union territory of Jammu & Kashmir and Union territory of Ladakh |             02 |
| 11        | Jharkhand                                                                       |             01 |
| 12        | Karnataka                                                                       |             04 |
| 13        | Kerala                                                                          |             04 |
| 14        | Madhya Pradesh                                                                  |             03 |
| 15        | Madras                                                                          |             09 |
| 16        | Manipur                                                                         |             00 |
| 17        | Meghalaya                                                                       |             00 |
| 18        | Orissa                                                                          |             01 |
| 19        | Patna                                                                           |             01 |
| 20        | Punjab& Haryana                                                                 |             10 |
| 21        | Rajasthan                                                                       |             01 |
| 22        | Sikkim                                                                          |             01 |
| 23        | Telangana                                                                       |             01 |
| 24        | Tripura                                                                         |             00 |
| 25        | Uttarakhand                                                                     |             00 |
|           | Total                                                                           |             77 |

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