Lok Sabha Question No. 413 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-03
Subject: Vacancies in Allahabad High Court
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Kalyan Banerjee

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 413

## ANSWERED ON 03/02/2023

## Vacancies in Allahabad High Court

## 413. SHRI KALYAN BANERJEE:

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

- (a) whether Allahabad High Court has top ranking in having an all time high vacancies and shortage of judges in the country;
- (b) if so, the time by which the vacancies of all judges of Supreme Court and High Courts in the country are likely be on full strength; and
- (c) the reason behind continuously having 30 percent monthly average vacancies of judges in the  High  Courts  out  of  total  1108  sanctioned  strengths  thereof  and  action  taken  by Government thereon?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

(a) to (c) : Allahabad High Court, is the biggest High Court in terms of sanctioned strength of Judges  and  also  has  highest  working  strength,  among  all  High  Courts.  As  on  01.02.2023,  the Allahabad  High  Court  has  a  sanctioned  strength  of  160  judges,  against  which  96  judges  are working, leaving 64 vacancies.

While 27 proposals recommended by High Court Collegium of Allahabad High Court for appointment of Judges are under various stages of processing, the recommendation in respect of 37 vacancies is yet to be received from the Allahabad High Court Collegium.

Judges  in  the  High  Courts  are  appointed  as  per  the  procedure  laid  down  in  the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) prepared in 1998 pursuant to the Supreme Court Judgment of October 6, 1993 (Second Judges case) read with their Advisory Opinion of October 28, 1998 (Third Judges case). As per MoP, initiation of proposal for appointment of Judges in the High Courts vests with the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court. Chief Justice of the High Court is required to initiate the proposal to fill up of vacancy of a High Court Judge six months prior to the occurrence of vacancy. However, this timeline is often not adhered to by the High Courts.

In  the  year  2022,  3  judges  were  appointed  in  the  Supreme  Court  and  165  judges  were appointed in the High Courts.

In  the  case  of  Supreme  Court,  as  on  01.02.2023, against  the  sanctioned  strength  of  34 Judges,  27  Judges  are  working  and  recommendation  for  appointment  of  7  judges  has  been received from the Supreme Court Collegium recently.

As on 01.02.2023, against the sanctioned strength of 1108 judges in the High Courts, 775 judges  are  working  and  333  post  of  Judges  are  vacant  in  the  High  Courts.  Against  these vacancies  142  proposals  recommended  by  the  High  Court  Collegiums  (HCC)  are  at  various stages of processing and recommendations against 191 vacancies in the High Courts are yet to be received from the High Court Collegiums. As per the MoP, proposal for appointment of a judge in the High Court is initiated by the Chief Justice of the High Courts who is required to make recommendation as early as possible but at least 6 months before the date of occurrence of the vacancy.

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.

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