Lok Sabha Question No. 249 (STARRED), answered on 2019-07-10
Subject: Shortage of Judges
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Adoor Prakash, Manickam Tagore B

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. 249

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 10.07.2019

## Shortage of Judges

- *249.   ADV. ADOOR PRAKASH:

SHRI MANICKAM TAGORE B.:

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

- a) whether the Government is aware of that the shortage of judges in various High Courts  and  the  Supreme  Court  of  India  is  causing  delay  in  the  disposal  of pending cases and if so, the details thereof;
- b) whether the Supreme Court has attained its full strength of 31 judges after more than a decade and if so, the details thereof;
- c)  whether  at  present  43  lakh  cases  in  High  Courts  and  59,000  cases  in  the Supreme Court are pending for disposal and if so, the details thereof;
- d) whether the Government has received any proposal/communication from Chief Justice of India to raise the strength of judges in the Supreme Court and increase the retirement age of High Court judges to clear the backlog; and
- e) if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  action  taken/being  taken  by  the Government thereon?

MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS &

## ANSWER INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) to (e): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## Statement referred to in reply to Parts (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 249 due for answer on 10.07.2019 regarding 'Shortage of Judges'

(a) to (e): There is no shortage of Judges in the Supreme Court of India. The Supreme Court has reached its full strength of 31 Judges for the first time since  2009.  However,  as  on  01.07.2019  there  are  403  vacancies  in the High Courts. Initiation of proposal for appointment of Judges in the High Courts  vests  with  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  High  Court.  Appointment  of Judges in the High Courts is a continuous collaborative process between the  Executive  and  the  Judiciary,  as  it  requires  consultation  and  approval from various Constitutional Authorities. 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.

As on 01.07.2019, 59331 cases are pending in the Supreme Court and 43.55 Lakh cases are pending in High Courts.

The delay in disposal of cases in Higher Judiciary is not only due to shortage of Judges, but also due to various factors such as (i) increasing number of state and central legislation, (ii) accumulation of first appeals, (iii) continuation  of  ordinary  civil  jurisdiction  in  some  of  the  High  Courts,  (iv) Appeals against orders of quasi-judicial forums goings to High Courts, (v) number of revision/appeals, (vi) frequent adjournments, (vii) indiscriminate use of writ jurisdiction and (viii) lack of adequate arrangements to monitor, track and bunch cases for hearing, and (ix) long duration of vacation period of Court, (x) assigning work of administrative nature to the Judges, etc.

The Chief  Justice  of  India  (CJI)  has  sent  proposals  for  augmenting the Judge-strength in Supreme Court of India appropriately so that it can function more efficiently & effectively and retain the goal of rendering timely justice  to  litigant  public.  The  CJI  has  also  proposed  to  increase  the retirement age of High Court Judges for ensuring continued availability of more experienced judges for a longer tenure and for improving the vacancy position and reducing the pendency of cases.df

The matter of augmenting the Judge-strength of the Supreme Court of India and increase in the retirement age of High Court Judges needs to be considered along with other measures to ensure transparency, accountability in the appointment of Judges and Court & Case management for reduction in pendency of cases in the Higher Judiciary.

***