Lok Sabha Question No. 5 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-02
Subject: Sanctioned Strength of Supreme Court and High Court Judges
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Mahesh Sahoo

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE

## DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5

## TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 02.02.2024

## Sanctioned Strength of Supreme Court and High Court Judges

## 5. SHRI MAHESH SAHOO:

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

- (a) the total sanctioned strength of judges in Supreme Court and High Courts across the country along with the number of judges at present;
- (b) the  number  of  pending  cases  in  Supreme  Court  and  High  Courts,  High
- Court-wise details thereof; and
- (c) whether the Government is considering increasing the strength of Supreme Court and High Court judges to get over with the pending cases, if so, the details thereof ?

## 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 (c): As on 29.01.2024, 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,  783 Judges  are  working  and  331  post  of  Judges  are  vacant  in  the  various  High Courts. The High Court-wise detail of sanctioned strength, working strength and vacancy as on 29.01.2024 is at Annexure-I.

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) assigning work of administrative  nature to the Judges, etc.

The strength of the Supreme Court of India was increased from 31 to 34 Judges  (including  Chief  Justice  of  India)  on  9 th August,  2019.  Whereas  the strength of High Court has increased from 906 in 2014 to 1114Judges.Presently, no  complete  proposal  regarding  increase  in  Judge  strength  of  High  Courts  is under consideration of the Government.

A statement  regarding  number  of  pending  cases  in  Supreme  Court  and High Courts; High Court-wise is placed at Annexure-II.

Statement showing Sanctioned strength, Working Strength and Vacancies of Judges  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  India  and  the  High  Courts  (as  on 29.01.2024)

Sanctioned strength

Working strength

Vacancies

| A.   | Supreme Court    | 34   | 34   | 34    | 34   | 34   | 34    | 0    | 0    | 0     |
|------|------------------|------|------|-------|------|------|-------|------|------|-------|
| B.   | High Court       | Pmt. | Addl | Total | Pmt. | Addl | Total | Pmt. | Addl | Total |
| 1    | Allahabad        | 119  | 41   | 160   | 76   | 14   | 90    | 43   | 27   | 70    |
| 2    | Andhra Pradesh   | 28   | 9    | 37    | 22   | 8    | 30    | 6    | 1    | 7     |
| 3    | Bombay           | 71   | 23   | 94    | 40   | 29   | 69    | 31   | -6   | 25    |
| 4    | Calcutta         | 54   | 18   | 72    | 37   | 14   | 51    | 17   | 4    | 21    |
| 5    | Chhattisgarh     | 17   | 5    | 22    | 10   | 6    | 16    | 7    | -1   | 6     |
| 6    | Delhi            | 46   | 14   | 60    | 37   | 5    | 42    | 9    | 9    | 18    |
| 7    | Gauhati          | 22   | 8    | 30    | 16   | 7    | 23    | 6    | 1    | 7     |
| 8    | Gujarat          | 39   | 13   | 52    | 31   | 0    | 31    | 8    | 13   | 21    |
| 9    | Himachal Pradesh | 13   | 4    | 17    | 12   | 0    | 12    | 1    | 4    | 5     |
| 10   | J &Kand Ladakh   | 13   | 4    | 17    | 11   | 4    | 15    | 2    | 0    | 2     |
| 11   | Jharkhand        | 20   | 5    | 25    | 17   | 1    | 18    | 3    | 4    | 7     |
| 12   | Karnataka        | 47   | 15   | 62    | 39   | 12   | 51    | 8    | 3    | 11    |
| 13   | Kerala           | 35   | 12   | 47    | 32   | 4    | 36    | 3    | 8    | 11    |
| 14   | Madhya Pradesh   | 39   | 14   | 53    | 39   | 1    | 40    | 0    | 13   | 13    |
| 15   | Madras           | 56   | 19   | 75    | 54   | 13   | 67    | 2    | 6    | 8     |
| 16   | Manipur          | 4    | 1    | 5     | 4    | 0    | 4     | 0    | 1    | 1     |
| 17   | Meghalaya        | 3    | 1    | 4     | 2    | 1    | 3     | 1    | 0    | 1     |
| 18   | Orissa           | 24   | 9    | 33    | 20   | 0    | 20    | 4    | 9    | 13    |
| 19   | Patna            | 40   | 13   | 53    | 35   | 0    | 35    | 5    | 13   | 18    |
| 20   | Punjab &Haryana  | 64   | 21   | 85    | 41   | 15   | 56    | 23   | 6    | 29    |
| 21   | Rajasthan        | 38   | 12   | 50    | 34   | 0    | 34    | 4    | 12   | 16    |
| 22   | Sikkim           | 3    | 0    | 3     | 3    | 0    | 3     | 0    | 0    | 0     |
| 23   | Telangana        | 32   | 10   | 42    | 21   | 5    | 26    | 11   | 5    | 16    |
| 24   | Tripura          | 4    | 1    | 5     | 4    | 1    | 5     | 0    | 0    | 0     |
| 25   | Uttarakhand      | 9    | 2    | 11    | 6    | 0    | 6     | 3    | 2    | 5     |
|      | Total            | 840  | 274  | 1114  | 643  | 140  | 783   | 197  | 134  | 331   |

## ANNEXURE-II

## Statement  showing  pendency  of  cases  in  Supreme  Court  and  the  High Courts

The number of cases pending in Supreme Court, as on 23.01.2024, are  80,221 cases. The detailed Statement of High-Court-wise pendency of cases are as per Annexure.

| High-Court wise Pendency of Cases (as on 23.01.2024)   | High-Court wise Pendency of Cases (as on 23.01.2024)   | High-Court wise Pendency of Cases (as on 23.01.2024)   |
|--------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| Sr No.                                                 | High Court                                             | No. of Pending Cases                                   |
| 1                                                      | Allahabad High Court                                   | 1074789                                                |
| 2                                                      | Bombay High Court                                      | 722657                                                 |
| 3                                                      | High Court Of Rajasthan                                | 669554                                                 |
| 4                                                      | Madras High Court                                      | 541829                                                 |
| 5                                                      | High Court of Madhya Pradesh                           | 447440                                                 |
| 6                                                      | High Court of Punjab and Haryana                       | 441573                                                 |
| 7                                                      | High Court of Karnataka                                | 288387                                                 |
| 8                                                      | High Court of Kerala                                   | 255399                                                 |
| 9                                                      | High Court of Andhra Pradesh                           | 248979                                                 |
| 10                                                     | High Court for State of Telangana                      | 248088                                                 |
| 11                                                     | Patna High Court                                       | 197798                                                 |
| 12                                                     | Calcutta High Court                                    | 195208                                                 |
| 13                                                     | High Court of Gujarat                                  | 170002                                                 |
| 14                                                     | Orissa High Court                                      | 145882                                                 |
| 15                                                     | High Court of Delhi                                    | 123658                                                 |
| 16                                                     | High Court of Himachal Pradesh                         | 100276                                                 |
| 17                                                     | High Court Of Chhattisgarh                             | 90354                                                  |
| 18                                                     | High Court of Jharkhand                                | 84358                                                  |
| 19                                                     | Gauhati High Court                                     | 62579                                                  |
| 20                                                     | High Court of Uttarakhand                              | 50762                                                  |
| 21                                                     | High Court of Jammu and Kashmir                        | 44622                                                  |
| 22                                                     | High Court of Manipur                                  | 4687                                                   |
| 23                                                     | High Court of Tripura                                  | 1271                                                   |
| 24                                                     | High Court of Meghalaya                                | 1137                                                   |
| 25                                                     | High Court of Sikkim                                   | 182                                                    |
|                                                        | Total                                                  | 6211471                                                |