Lok Sabha Question No. 3898 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-25
Subject: Shortage of Judges in Court
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Sudarshan Bhagat

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †3898 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 25 TH  MARCH, 2022

## SHORTAGE OF JUDGES IN COURT

†3898. SHRI SUDARSHAN BHAGAT:

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

- (a) whether there is acute shortage of judges in all the courts of the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise; and
- (c) if not, the number of cases in the country lying pending due to delay in hearings of cases by judges?

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

(a) & (b): The details of existing vacancies in Supreme Court of India & High Courts and District & Subordinate Courts is at Annexure-I and Annexure-II respectively.

As per the Memorandum of Procedure, for the appointment of Judges of High Courts, the Chief Justice of the High Court is required to initiate the proposals in consultation with two senior-most Judges from amongst the eligible candidates from the Bar and concerned State Judicial Service six months prior to the occurrence of vacancies.

Filling up of vacancies in the High  Courts  is a continuous, integrated and collaborative process between the Executive and the Judiciary. It requires consultation and approval from various Constitutional Authorities both at the State and Centre level. Every effort  is  made  to  expedite  the  process  of  appointment  of  Judges  following  the  due procedure.

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 issue of appointment, promotion,  reservations  and  retirement  of  Judicial  Officers  in  the  State  Judicial  Service. Hence,  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 other States.

The Union Government does not have a role under the Constitution in the selection and appointment of judicial officers in District/ subordinate judiciary. The Supreme Court, in  its  orders  of  04 th January, 2007 in Malik Mazhar case, has devised a process and time frame to be followed for the filling up of vacancies in subordinate judiciary which stipulates that  the  process  for  recruitment  of  judges  in  the  subordinate  courts  would  commence  on 31st  March  of  a  calendar  year  and  end  by  31st  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.

Further, in compliance of the above directions of the Supreme Court, Department of Justice forwarded a copy of the Malik Mazhar judgement to Registrars General of all High Courts for necessary action. Department of Justice is writing from time to time to Registrars General of all High Courts to expedite the filling up of vacancies in subordinate judiciary mandated by Malik Mazhar case.

(c): The number of cases pending in Supreme Court of India, High Courts and District & Subordinate Courts in the country is as under:-

|   Sl. No. | Name of Court                | Pendency as on             |
|-----------|------------------------------|----------------------------|
|         1 | Supreme Court of India       | 70,154 (02.03.2022)*       |
|         2 | High Courts                  | 58,94,060 (21.03.2022)**   |
|         3 | District &Subordinate Courts | 4,10,47,976 (21.03.2022)** |

Source *Website of Supreme Court of India.

**National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG).

Disposal of cases pending in various courts is within the domain of judiciary.  Timely disposal of cases in courts depends on several factors which, inter-alia , include availability of  adequate  number  of  judges  and  judicial  officers,  supporting  court  staff  and  physical infrastructure,  complexity  of  facts  involved,  nature  of  evidence,  co-operation  of  stake holders viz .  bar,  investigation  agencies,  witnesses  and  litigants  and  proper  application  of rules  and  procedures.    There  are  several  factors  which  may  lead  to  delay  in  disposal  of cases.    These,  inter  alia,  include  vacancies  of  judges,  frequent  adjournments  and  lack  of adequate arrangement to monitor, track and bunch cases for hearing.

******

Annexure-I STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO  PARTS (A) & (B) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †3898 FOR ANSWER ON 25.03.2022 REGARDING  SHORTAGE OF JUDGES IN COURT Statement  showing  sanctioned  strength,  working  strength  of  the  judges  in  the

## Supreme Court and High Court as on 14.03.2022

|    |                  | Sanctioned strength   | Sanctioned strength   | Sanctioned strength   | Working strength   | Working strength   | Working strength   | Vacancies   | Vacancies   | Vacancies   |
|----|------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
| A. | Supreme Court    | 34                    | 34                    | 34                    | 32                 | 32                 | 32                 | 02          | 02          | 02          |
| B. | High Court       | Pmt.                  | Addl                  | Total                 | Pmt.               | Addl               | Total              | Pmt.        | Addl        | Total       |
| 1  | Allahabad        | 120                   | 40                    | 160                   | 74                 | 19                 | 93                 | 46          | 21          | 67          |
| 2  | Andhra Pradesh   | 28                    | 09                    | 37                    | 26                 | 0                  | 26                 | 02          | 09          | 11          |
| 3  | Bombay           | 71                    | 23                    | 94                    | 51                 | 07                 | 58                 | 20          | 16          | 36          |
| 4  | Calcutta         | 54                    | 18                    | 72                    | 31                 | 08                 | 39                 | 23          | 10          | 33          |
| 5  | Chhattisgarh     | 17                    | 05                    | 22                    | 10                 | 03                 | 13                 | 07          | 02          | 09          |
| 6  | Delhi            | 45                    | 15                    | 60                    | 33                 | 0                  | 33                 | 12          | 15          | 27          |
| 7  | Gauhati          | 18                    | 06                    | 24                    | 17                 | 06                 | 23                 | 01          | 0           | 01          |
| 8  | Gujarat          | 39                    | 13                    | 52                    | 32                 | 0                  | 32                 | 07          | 13          | 20          |
| 9  | Himachal Pradesh | 10                    | 03                    | 13                    | 08                 | 01                 | 09                 | 02          | 02          | 04          |
| 10 | J &Kand Ladakh   | 13                    | 04                    | 17                    | 13                 | 0                  | 13                 | 0           | 04          | 04          |
| 11 | Jharkhand        | 19                    | 06                    | 25                    | 19                 | 01                 | 20                 | 0           | 05          | 05          |
| 12 | Karnataka        | 47                    | 15                    | 62                    | 39                 | 06                 | 45                 | 08          | 09          | 17          |
| 13 | Kerala           | 35                    | 12                    | 47                    | 27                 | 12                 | 39                 | 08          | 0           | 08          |
| 14 | Madhya Pradesh   | 40                    | 13                    | 53                    | 35                 | 0                  | 35                 | 05          | 13          | 18          |
| 15 | Madras           | 56                    | 19                    | 75                    | 44                 | 15                 | 59                 | 12          | 04          | 16          |
| 16 | Manipur          | 04                    | 01                    | 05                    | 03                 | 01                 | 04                 | 01          | 0           | 01          |
| 17 | Meghalaya        | 03                    | 01                    | 04                    | 03                 | 0                  | 03                 | 0           | 01          | 01          |
| 18 | Orissa           | 24                    | 09                    | 33                    | 21                 | 0                  | 21                 | 03          | 09          | 12          |
| 19 | Patna            | 40                    | 13                    | 53                    | 25                 | 0                  | 25                 | 15          | 13          | 28          |
| 20 | Punjab& Haryana  | 64                    | 21                    | 85                    | 43                 | 06                 | 49                 | 21          | 15          | 36          |
| 21 | Rajasthan        | 38                    | 12                    | 50                    | 26                 | 0                  | 26                 | 12          | 12          | 24          |
| 22 | Sikkim           | 03                    | 0                     | 03                    | 03                 | 0                  | 03                 | 0           | 0           | 0           |
| 23 | Telangana        | 32                    | 10                    | 42                    | 19                 | 0                  | 19                 | 13          | 10          | 23          |
| 24 | Tripura          | 04                    | 01                    | 05                    | 05                 | 0                  | 05                 | -01         | 01          | 0           |
| 25 | Uttarakhand      | 09                    | 02                    | 11                    | 07                 | 0                  | 07                 | 02          | 02          | 04          |
|    | Total            | 833                   | 271                   | 1104                  | 614                | 85                 | 699                | 219         | 186         | 405         |

## Annexure-II

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO  PARTS (A) & (B) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †3898 FOR ANSWER ON 25.03.2022 REGARDING  SHORTAGE OF JUDGES IN COURT

(As on 21.03.2022)

| S. No.   | State &UTs          |   Total Sanctioned Strength |   Total Working Strength |   Total Vacancy |
|----------|---------------------|-----------------------------|--------------------------|-----------------|
| 1.       | Andaman and Nicobar |                           0 |                       13 |             -13 |
| 2.       | Andhra Pradesh      |                         607 |                      487 |             120 |
| 3.       | Arunachal Pradesh   |                          41 |                       32 |               9 |
| 4.       | Assam               |                         467 |                      436 |              31 |
| 5.       | Bihar               |                        1954 |                     1385 |             569 |
| 6.       | Chandigarh          |                          30 |                       30 |               0 |
| 7.       | Chhattisgarh        |                         482 |                      407 |              75 |
| 8.       | D &NHaveli          |                           3 |                        2 |               1 |
| 9.       | Daman &Diu          |                           4 |                        4 |               0 |
| 10.      | Delhi               |                         884 |                      686 |             198 |
| 11.      | Goa                 |                          50 |                       40 |              10 |
| 12.      | Gujarat             |                        1523 |                     1176 |             347 |
| 13.      | Haryana             |                         772 |                      477 |             295 |
| 14.      | Himachal Pradesh    |                         175 |                      161 |              14 |
| 15.      | Jammu and Kashmir   |                         300 |                      240 |              60 |
| 16.      | Jharkhand           |                         675 |                      517 |             158 |
| 17.      | Karnataka           |                        1363 |                     1082 |             281 |
| 18.      | Kerala              |                         569 |                      487 |              82 |
| 19.      | Ladakh              |                          17 |                        9 |               8 |
| 20.      | Lakshadweep         |                           3 |                        3 |               0 |
| 21.      | Madhya Pradesh      |                        2021 |                     1545 |             476 |
| 22.      | Maharashtra         |                        2190 |                     1940 |             250 |
| 23.      | Manipur             |                          59 |                       46 |              13 |
| 24.      | Meghalaya           |                          99 |                       51 |              48 |
| 25.      | Mizoram             |                          65 |                       41 |              24 |
| 26.      | Nagaland            |                          34 |                       24 |              10 |
| 27.      | Odisha              |                         977 |                      781 |             196 |
| 28.      | Puducherry          |                          26 |                       11 |              15 |
| 29.      | Punjab              |                         692 |                      606 |              86 |
| 30.      | Rajasthan           |                        1549 |                     1272 |             277 |
| 31.      | Sikkim              |                          28 |                       20 |               8 |
| 32.      | Tamil Nadu          |                        1319 |                     1080 |             239 |
| 33.      | Telangana           |                         474 |                      424 |              50 |
| 34.      | Tripura             |                         122 |                      108 |              14 |
| 35.      | Uttar Pradesh       |                        3634 |                     2528 |            1106 |
| 36.      | Uttarakhand         |                         299 |                      272 |              27 |
| 37.      | West Bengal         |                        1014 |                      918 |              96 |
|          | Total               |                       24521 |                    19341 |            5180 |

Source MIS portal of DoJ