Lok Sabha Question No. 336 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-03
Subject: Delay in Hearing of Cases in High Courts
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Arun Kumar Sagar, Ashok Kumar Rawat

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 336

## ANSWERED ON 03/02/2023

## Delay in Hearing of Cases in High Courts

## † 336. SHRI ARUN KUMAR SAGAR: SHRI ASHOK KUMAR RAWAT:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  there  has  been  delay  in  trial/hearing  of  several cases due to insufficient strength of judges in many High courts of the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the details of sanctioned strength and vacant posts of judges in High courts of the country alongwith the reasons for non-filling of those vacancies;
- (c) whether the Government is contemplating to increase the sanctioned strength of judges in the High Courts; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE

## (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

(a) to (b) : The pendency of cases in courts is not only due to shortage of judges in High Courts but also due to various other factors like (i) increase in number of state and central legislations, (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  going  to  High  Courts,  (v) number  of  revisions/appeals,  (vi)  frequent  adjournments,  (vii)  indiscriminate  use  of  writ jurisdiction, (viii) lack of adequate arrangement to monitor, tracking and bunching of cases for hearing, (ix) vacation period of Courts, (x) assigning work of administrative nature to the Judges, etc.

As on 01.02.2023, against the sanctioned strength of 1108 Judges in the High Courts, 775 Judges are in position, leaving 333 vacancies of Judges to be filled. At present, 142 proposals are at  various  stages  of  processing  between  the  Government  and  the  Supreme  Court  Collegium. Further  recommendations  from  High  Court  Collegiums  are  yet  to  be  received  in  respect  of remaining 191 vacancies in High Courts. A statement showing High Court wise vacancy position as on 01.02.2023 is at Annexure .

While  filling  up  of  vacancies  in  the  High  Courts  is  a  continuous,  integrated  and collaborative process requiring consultation and approval from various constitutional authorities, vacancies  keep  on  arising  on  account  of  retirement,  resignation  or  elevation  of  Judges. Government is committed to filling up of vacancy expeditiously in time-bound manner.

(c) to (d) : To increase the judge strength of a High Court, the concurrence of the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court as well as the State Government is required since the Chief Justice of that  High  Court  is  responsible  for  day  to  day  administration  of  the  court  and  the  State Government has to provide for infrastructural facilities, salaries of Judges etc. The sanctioned strength of Judges of High Court has increased from 906 in (2014) to 1108 in (2022).

***

Annexure

Statement  referred  to  in  part  (a)  &  (b)  of  the  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.  336 regarding  'Delay  in  Hearing  of  Cases  in  High  Courts',  showing  Court-wise  details  of sanctioned, working strength and vacancies in the High Courts.

| Sl. No.   | High Court       |   Sanctioned strength |   Working strength |   Vacancies |
|-----------|------------------|-----------------------|--------------------|-------------|
| 1.        | Allahabad        |                   160 |                 96 |          64 |
| 2.        | Andhra Pradesh   |                    37 |                 32 |           5 |
| 3.        | Bombay           |                    94 |                 65 |          29 |
| 4.        | Calcutta         |                    72 |                 54 |          18 |
| 5.        | Chhattisgarh     |                    22 |                 14 |           8 |
| 6.        | Delhi            |                    60 |                 45 |          15 |
| 7.        | Gauhati          |                    24 |                 23 |           1 |
| 8.        | Gujarat          |                    52 |                 26 |          26 |
| 9.        | Himachal Pradesh |                    17 |                  9 |           8 |
| 10.       | J&K &Ladakh      |                    17 |                 14 |           3 |
| 11.       | Jharkhand        |                    25 |                 20 |           5 |
| 12.       | Karnataka        |                    62 |                 51 |          11 |
| 13.       | Kerala           |                    47 |                 37 |          10 |
| 14.       | Madhya Pradesh   |                    53 |                 31 |          22 |
| 15.       | Madras           |                    75 |                 52 |          23 |
| 16.       | Manipur          |                     5 |                  3 |           2 |
| 17.       | Meghalaya        |                     4 |                  3 |           1 |
| 18.       | Orissa           |                    33 |                 22 |          11 |
| 19.       | Patna            |                    53 |                 34 |          19 |
| 20.       | Punjab &Haryana  |                    85 |                 66 |          19 |
| 21.       | Rajasthan        |                    50 |                 35 |          15 |
| 22.       | Sikkim           |                     3 |                  3 |           0 |
| 23.       | Telangana        |                    42 |                 32 |          10 |
| 24.       | Tripura          |                     5 |                  2 |           3 |
| 25.       | Uttarakhand      |                    11 |                  6 |           5 |
| Total     | Total            |                  1108 |                775 |         333 |