Lok Sabha Question No. 5053 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-24
Subject: Filling of Posts in Subordinate Judiciary
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Kirron  Kher

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5053

TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 24 TH  JULY, 2019.

Filling of Posts in Subordinate Judiciary

5053. SHRIMATI KIRRON KHER:

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

- (a) the number  of  additional  positions of judges  created  and  filled in subordinate judiciary across the country along with the funds provided by the Government for the purpose during the recent years; and
- (b)  the  other  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  improve  the  functioning  of FTCs in the country?

## ANSWER INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a) : 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             |
| 18.07.2019 | 23,228                | 17,971             |

Under Article 235 of the Constitution of India, the administrative control over the  members  of  district  and  subordinate  judiciary  in  the  States  vest  with  the concerned High Court.    Further,  in  exercise  of  powers  conferred  under  proviso  to Article 309 read with Articles 233 and 234 of the Constitution, the respective State Government, in consultation with the High Court, frames the Rules and Regulations regarding the issues of appointment, promotion, reservations etc . of Judicial Officers in  the  State  Judicial  Service.    Therefore,  Central  Government  has  no  role  in  this regard.

The following steps have been taken by the Government to facilitate filling of vacancies in lower judiciary:-

- (i) In  September,  2016,  Union  Minister  of  Law  &  Justice  wrote  to  the  Chief Ministers of States and the Chief Justices of High Courts to enhance the cadre strength of the District and Subordinate Courts and provide physical infrastructure to the State judiciary.  The same was reiterated in May, 2017.  In August,  2018,  in  the  context  of  increasing  pendency  of  cases,  the  Union Minister  of  Law  &  Justice  has  written  to  all  Chief  Justices  of  High  Courts  to monitor the Status of the vacancies regularly and to ensure proper coordination with  the  state  Public  Service  Commission  to  fill  up  vacant  posts  as  per  time schedule prescribed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the Malik Mazhar Sultan case.
- (ii)  The filling up of vacancies is also being monitored by the Supreme Court in a suo-motu Writ Petition (Civil) No. 2 of 2018.
- (iii)  A  series  of  meetings  were  held  by  Secretary,  Department  of  Justice  with Registrars  General  of  all  High  Courts  and  Law  Secretaries  of  all  State Governments / UTs through Video Conferencing in the month of January, 2018, July,  2018  and  November,  2018  to  follow  up  on  filling  up  posts  of  Judicial Officers in District and Subordinate Courts.
- (iv) The Department of Justice has hosted a 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.
- (v)  In order to facilitate regular filling up of these vacancies in a smooth and timebound manner, the Department of Justice vide its  letter  dated 28 th April, 2017 suggested creation of a Central Selection Mechanism to the Hon'ble Supreme Court.  The  Hon'ble  Supreme  Court suo  motu converted  the  Government's suggestions  into  a  Writ  Petition  on  09 th May,  2017  and  directed  all  State Governments (including Union Territories) to file their responses and suggestions by way of affidavits to the Supreme Court Registry.
- (b)  :  Setting  up  of  subordinate  courts  including  Fast  Track  Courts  (FTCs)  comes within the domain of the State Governments which in consultation with the respective High Courts set up such courts.  An amount of Rs.870 crore was released to the State Governments for FTCs during a period of 11 years from 2000-01 to 2010-2011

and Central funding was discontinued beyond 31.03.2011.  The Central Government decided to provide funds upto a maximum of Rs.80 crore per annum on a matching basis  upto  31.03.2015  from  the  13 th Finance  Commission  Award  for  meeting expenditure on salaries of the 10% additional positions of Judges being created in the subordinate Judiciary following the direction of Supreme Court in the case of Brij Mohan Lal versus Union of India.  The State Governments and Chief Justices of the High  Courts  were  requested  to  utilize  these  positions  for  creation  of  Fast  Track Courts (FTCs) also.  The 14 th Finance Commission (14 th FC) endorsed the proposal of the Union of India to strengthen the judicial system in States which includes, interalia ,  establishing 1800 FTCs for a period of five years for cases of heinous crimes; cases involving senior citizens, women, children, disabled and litigants affected with HIV AIDS and other terminal ailments; and civil disputes involving land acquisition and property / rent disputes pending for more than five years at a cost of Rs.4,144 crore.    The  14 th FC  had  urged  the  State  Governments  to  use  the  additional  fiscal space provided by the Commission in the tax devolution to meet such requirements. The Union Government has urged the State Governments to allocate funds for the activities  mentioned  in  the  14 th Finance  Commission  recommendations  from  their State  budgets  from  the  Financial  Year  2015-16  onwards  and  to  strengthen  the existing  coordination  and  monitoring  mechanism  between  the  State  Governments and the  Judiciary  for  effective  implementation  of  the  recommendations  of  the  14 th Finance Commission.

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