Lok Sabha Question No. 1118 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-08
Subject: Vacancies in Supreme Court and High Courts
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: K. Muraleedharan, Dean Kuriakose, Deepak Baij, Adoor Prakash, Kumbakudi Sudhakaran, Mohammad Jawed, T.N. Prathapan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1118

## TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 08.12.2023

## Vacancies in Supreme Court and High Courts

## 1118. SHRI K. MURALEEDHARAN:

ADV. DEAN KURIAKOSE:

SHRI DEEPAK BAIJ:

ADV. ADOOR PRAKASH:

SHRI KUMBAKUDI SUDHAKARAN:

DR. MOHAMMAD JAWED:

SHRI T.N. PRATHAPAN:

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

- (a) the number of vacancies in High Courts and the Supreme Court reported and the number of proposals recommended for appointment of judges in the said courts against the said vacancies;
- (b) the  amount  of  time  that  have  passed  since  when  the  collegium  of  the Supreme Court has recommended the said proposals;
- (c) whether the Government is aware of the delay in judicial appointments, as well as transfers of Judges of High Courts, if so, the reasons for the delay;
- (d) the detailed reasons for non-clearance of names of judges of various High Courts recommended by the collegium of the Supreme Court; and
- (e) the  names  of  High Courts whose Judges have been transferred during  the last one year?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF  STATE  (INDEPENDENT  CHARGE)  OF  THE MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE; MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS; AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE

(SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL)

(a) to (e): As on 04.12.2023, against the sanctioned strength of 34 Judges, the Supreme  Court  is  functioning  at  full  strength  and  there  is  no  vacancy.  As regards  the  High  Courts,  against  the  sanctioned  strength  of  1114  Judges,  790 Judges  are  working  and  324  post  of  Judges  are  vacant  in  the  various  High Courts.

As on 01.01.2023, 171 proposals received from High Court Collegiums were at different stages of processing. During the calendar year 2023, 121 fresh proposals  were  received.      Out  of  the  total  292  proposals  for  consideration during  the  current  calendar  year,  110  Judges  have  been  appointed  and  60 recommendations were remitted to the High Courts on the advice of the SCC. As  on  04.12.2023,  122  proposals  are  at  various  stages  of  processing.  Out  of these 122 proposals, 87 proposals were sent to the Supreme Court Collegium (SCC)  for  seeking  advice  against  which  the  SCC  has  provided  advice  on  45 proposals  which  are  at  various  stages  of  processing  in  the  Government.    42 proposals are under consideration with the SCC.  35 fresh proposals received recently are being processed for seeking the advice of the SCC. Recommendations are yet to be received from High Court Collegiums in respect of the remaining 198 vacancies.

Appointment of the Judges of the Constitutional 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 state and central level.

As  a  result  of  the  collaborative  process  between  the  Executive  and Judiciary,  during  the  year  2022,  165  Judges  were  appointed  in  various  High Courts and 08 transfer among High Courts were made (02 Chief Justices and 06 Judges) and during the year 2023, a total of 110 Judges have been appointed in various High Courts and 34 judges have been transferred among various High Courts till 04.12.2023.

## : 3 :

Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  High  Courts  are  appointed  under Article  124,  217  and  224  of  the  Constitution  of  India  and  according  to  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. All the names recommended  by  High  Court  Collegium  are  sent  with  the  views  of  the Government to the Supreme Court Collegium (SCC) for advice. Government, however,  appoints  only  those  persons  as  Judges  of  High  Courts  who  are recommended by SCC.

As per the existing MoP, the proposal for transfer of High Court Judges is initiated  by  the  Chief  Justice  of  India  in  consultation  with  four  senior-most puisne Judges of the Supreme Court. The MoP further provides that the Chief Justice  of  India  is  also  expected  to  take  into  account  the  views  of  the  Chief Justice  of  High  Court  from  which  the  judge  is  to  be  transferred,  as  also  the Chief Justice of the High Court to which the transfer is to be effected, besides taking into account the views of one or more Supreme Court judges who are in a position to offer views.

All  transfers  are  to  be  made  in  public  interest  i.e.  for  promoting  better administration of justice throughout the country. No  timeline has been prescribed in the MoP for transfer of judges from one High Court to another.

34 judges have been transferred from Madras, Calcutta, Patna, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, Punjab & Haryana, Allahabad, Patna, Kerala, Telangana,

Rajasthan,  Madhya  Pradesh,  Gujarat,  Andhra  Pradesh  and  Karnataka  High Court during the year 2023.

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