Lok Sabha Question No. 130 (STARRED), answered on 2021-02-10
Subject: Vacancies for Judicial Officers and Prosecutors
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Gautham Sigamani Pon, Ganesan Selvam

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *130

TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 10 th  FEBRUARY, 2021.

## VACANCIES FOR JUDICIAL OFFICERS AND PROSECUTORS

## *130 SHRI GAUTHAM SIGAMANI PON: SHRI SELVAM G:

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

- (a) the sanctioned strength and vacancies for Judicial Officers and Prosecutors in the State of Tamil Nadu, court-wise;
- (b) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  reduce  the  gap  between  their sanctioned and actual strength ;
- (c) the  total  number  of  training  academies/institutes  with  their  trainee capacities available for the training of Judicial Officers and
- Prosecutors, State-wise ;
- (d) the  total  number  of  Judicial  Officers  and  Prosecutors  who  have  been imparted basic training during the last three years in the State of Tamil
- Nadu, rank-wise; and
- (e) whether  the  Government  has  suggested  for  creation  of  a  central selection mechanism to expedite and rationalize the process of selection and if so, the responses/suggestions of States and UTs in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

## INFORMATION AND 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. * 130  FOR  ANSWER  ON  10.02.2021  REGARDING 'JUDICIAL OFFICER VACANCY'.

(a): The details  of  the  sanctioned  strength  and  vacancies  in  respect  of  Judicial Officers and Prosecutors, in the State of Tamil Nadu is given at Annexure I and Annexure II respectively.

- (b):    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. As per information provided by High Court of Madras, Tamil Nadu  the number of vacancies in the cadre of District Judge (Entry Level) under 65% quota was 18. Appointment orders of these 18 promotee District Judges has been issued  on 03.02.2021. The number of vacancies in the cadre of District Judge (Entry Level) under 10% quota is 8 which is presently vacant. The number of vacancies in the cadre of District Judge under the 25% quota is 34 against which notification  had  been  issued  for  filling  up  of  32  vacancies.  The  preliminary examination for the said selection process was conducted on 01.11.2020. The main examination for the 6 candidates who had passed the preliminary examination was held on 30.01.2021 and 31.01.2021.The number of vacancies in the cadre of Senior Civil Judge in the Tamil Nadu State Judicial Service as on date is 67 for which a Panel  of  123  Civil  Judges  is  available  for  filling  up  the  existing  and  arising

vacancies  in  the  cadre  of  Senior  Civil  Judge  in  the  Tamil  Nadu  State  Judicial Service.The number of vacancies in the cadre of Civil Judge in the Tamil Nadu State Judicial Service, as on date is 123. Notification dated 09.09.2019 has  been issued by the Government of TamilNadu for filling up 176 vacancies i.e. existing and arising vacancies in the cadre of Civil Judge. Preliminary examination for the said  selections  were  held  on  24.11.2019  and  the  Main  Examination  for  the  said selection was conducted on 17.10.2020 and 18.10.2020. The oral test for the said selection  was  scheduled  to  be  conducted  on  08.02.2021  and  09.02.2021  at  the office of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission.

In  respect  of  Assistant  Public  Prosecutors  Grade-II,  the  Government  of Tamil Nadu has in coordination with the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission provisionally selected 47 candidates and the process of verification of genuineness of their certificates and their antecedents is going on.  As regards  50 vacancies for the panel year 2019-20 in the post of Assistant Public Prosecutor Grade II, Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission is yet to notify the recruitment of the  said  posts.  It  has  also  been  informed  by  Government  of  Tamil  Nadu  that Prosecutors  have  been  given  promotion  as  and  when  vacancy  arises  in  various cadres regularly.

(c): The details of the total number of training academies/institutes with their trainee  capacities  available  for  the  training  of  Judicial  Officers  and  Prosecutors, State-wise, is given at Annexure III.

(d) : The  details  of  the  total  number  of  Judicial  Officers  and  Prosecutors  who have been imparted basic training during the last three years in the State of Tamil Nadu, rank-wise, is given at Annexure IV.

(e): 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.  In so far as recruitment of judicial officers in the States is  concerned,  respective  High  Courts  do  it  in  certain  States,  whereas  the  High Courts do it  in  consultation  with  the  State  Public  Service  Commissions  in  some other States.

The Supreme Court, through a judicial order  in  Malik  Mazhar  case,  has devised a process and time frame to be followed for the filling up of vacancies in subordinate judiciary.  This order of January 2007 by the Supreme Court stipulates that  the  process  for  recruitment  of  judges  in  the  subordinate  courts  would commence on 31 st March of a calendar year and end by 31 st October of the same year.    The  Supreme  Court  has  permitted  State  Governments  /  High  Courts  for variations  in  the  time  schedule  in  case  of  any  difficulty  based  on  the  peculiar geographical and climatic conditions in the State or other relevant conditions.

************

## ANNEXURE - I

## Details of Sanctioned Strength and Vacancies for Judicial Officer in State of Tamil Nadu

|   S. No. | Cadre              |   Sanctioned Strength |   Working Strength |   Vacancy |
|----------|--------------------|-----------------------|--------------------|-----------|
|        1 | District Judge     |                   333 |                273 |        60 |
|        2 | Senior Civil Judge |                   342 |                275 |        67 |
|        3 | Civil Judge        |                   623 |                500 |       123 |

## ANNEXURE- II

## Details of Sanctioned Strength and Vacancies for Prosecutors in State of Tamil Nadu

| S. No.   | Court Description                                                                                                                   |   Sanctioned Strength |   Working Strength |   Vacancy |
|----------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------|--------------------|-----------|
| 1.       | Special Public Prosecutors in the rank of Add. Public Prosecutor in Special Courts for trial of Criminal cases related to MP / MLAs |                     3 |                  2 |         1 |
| 2.       | Special Public Prosecutors in the rank of Add. Public Prosecutor in Special Courts for trial of POCSO Act Cases                     |                    16 |                 16 |         0 |
| 3.       | Additional Public Prosecutors in Chief Judicial Magistrate Courts                                                                   |                    31 |                 25 |         6 |
| 4.       | Deputation in Vigilance and Anti- Corruption and other Departments in the rank of Additional Public Prosecutor                      |                    34 |                 19 |        15 |
| 5.       | Assistant Public Prosecutor, Grade-I in District cum Judicial Magistrate Court                                                      |                    97 |                 76 |        21 |
| 6.       | Deputation in Vigilance and Anti- Corruption and other Departments in the rank of Assistant Public Prosecutor, Grade- I             |                     6 |                  4 |         2 |
| 7.       | Assistant Public Prosecutor, Grade-II in Judicial Magistrate Court                                                                  |                   203 |                117 |        86 |
|          | TOTAL                                                                                                                               |                   390 |                259 |       131 |

ANNEXURE III Details of training academies/institutes with their trainee capacities available for the training of Judicial Officers and Prosecutors:

|   S. No. | Name of State/UTs   |   No. of Training Academies/In stitutes | Trainee capacity for training of Judicial Officers and Prosecutors                                                                                                                 |
|----------|---------------------|-----------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Telangana           |                                      01 | 300                                                                                                                                                                                |
|        2 | Assam*              |                                      02 | 440                                                                                                                                                                                |
|        3 | Bihar               |                                      01 | 150 (Lecture Hall capacity) 350 (Auditorium seating capacity)                                                                                                                      |
|        4 | Punjab& Haryana     |                                      01 | 190 (6 Lecture Hall capacity) 286 (Auditorium seating capacity)                                                                                                                    |
|        5 | Chhattisgarh        |                                      01 | Two class rooms having capacity of sitting of more than 100 trainee judicial officer is available. At present, no training is imparted to the Prosecutors by the Judicial Academy. |
|        6 | Delhi               |                                      01 | 170 (2 Lecture halls, 1 Seminar hall and 1 Conference Hall)                                                                                                                        |
|        7 | Gujarat             |                                      01 | 240 (4 Lecture Hall capacity) 80 (Convention Hall) 80 (4 Discussion room) 68 (2 Conference room capacity)                                                                          |
|        8 | Himachal Pradesh    |                                      01 | 198 (1Conference Hall, I Auditorium, 3 Lecture rooms)                                                                                                                              |
|        9 | Jammu &Kashmir      |                                      02 | Trainee capacity of academy campus at Jammu : 70 (Lecture Hall capacity) 20 (Conference Hall seating capacity)                                                                     |

|    |                |    | Trainee capacity of academy campus at Srinagar : 35 (Conference Hall seating capacity) 50 (Lecture Hall capacity) 280 (Auditorium seating capacity)                                          |
|----|----------------|----|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 10 | Jharkhand      | 01 | 40 (4 Lecture Hall capacity) 467 (Auditorium seating capacity)                                                                                                                               |
| 11 | Karnataka      | 01 | 356 (8 Lecture Hall capacity) 290 (Auditorium seating capacity)                                                                                                                              |
| 12 | Kerala         | 01 | 128                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| 13 | Madhya Pradesh | 01 | 100                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| 14 | Maharashtra    | 02 | Trainee capacity of Maharashtra Judicial Academy, Thane : 390 (class room capacity) 410 (Auditorium seating capacity) Trainee capacity of Judicial Officer's Training Institute, Nagpur : 40 |
| 15 | Manipur        | 01 | 154                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| 16 | Meghalaya      | 01 | 20                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| 17 | Odisha         | 01 | 100                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| 18 | Rajasthan      | 01 | 200 Online -300                                                                                                                                                                              |
| 19 | Sikkim         | 01 | 100                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| 20 | Tamil Nadu     | 01 | Trainee capacity at Chennai : 200 (Auditorium capacity) 110 (Conference Hall capacity) 80 (Lecture&Meeting Hall capacity) Trainee capacity of Regional Centre,                               |

|    |               |    | Coimbatore : 200 (Auditorium capacity) 80 (Lecture&Meeting Hall capacity) Trainee capacity of Regional Centre, Madurai 200 (Auditorium capacity) 50 (Lecture& Meeting Hall capacity)   |
|----|---------------|----|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 21 | Tripura       | 01 | 50                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| 22 | Uttar Pradesh | 02 | 320 (07 Lecture Hall capacity) 500 (01 Auditorium seating capacity)                                                                                                                    |
| 23 | Uttarakhand   | 01 | 120                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 24 | West Bengal   | 01 | 240 (4 Classroom seating capacity) 320 (2 Conference Halls)                                                                                                                            |

## ANNEXURE - IV

## Details of Total Number of Judicial Officers &Prosecutors, rank-wise, who have been imparted Basic Training, during last 3 years in State Of Tamil Nadu, rank-wise :

| Cadre               |   Year |   Year | Year   | Total   |
|---------------------|--------|--------|--------|---------|
|                     |   2018 |   2019 | 2020   |         |
| District Judges     |   1520 |    814 | 1863   | 4197    |
| Senior Civil Judges |   1505 |    758 | 2257   | 4520    |
| Civil Judges        |   3008 |   1926 | 4144   | 9078    |
| Public Prosecutors  |    491 |    299 | Nil    | 790     |
| Grand Total         |   6524 |   3797 | 8264   | 18585   |