Lok Sabha Question No. 928 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-08
Subject: Basic Facilities in Court Complexes
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Sanjay(Kaka) Ramchandra Patil, K. Jayakumar, Janardan Singh Sigriwal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 928

## TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 08 TH  DECEMBER, 2023

## Basic Facilities in Court Complexes

## 928. SHRI SANJAY KAKA PATIL:

DR. K. JAYAKUMAR:

SHRI JANARDAN SINGH SIGRIWAL:

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

- (a) the projects proposed under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme  (CSS)  for Development ofInfrastructure Facilities for Judiciary;
- (b)  the  details  of  funds/grants  sanctioned,  allocated  and  utilised  for  basic  facilities created for judiciary and the number of sub-ordinate courts benefited therefrom since the inception of CSS, State-wise including Bihar;
- (c)  whether  significant  part  of  funds  for  the  purpose  goes  unutilized  and  if  so,  the remedial steps taken in this regard;
- (d)  whether  a  number  of  districts/sub-ordinate  courts  are  still  facing  infrastructural problems and lack basic facilities like court rooms, computer room, library and record rooms causing hindrance to objective of providing justice for all and if so, the reaction thereto and the corrective measures being taken in this regard;
- (e) whether any direction has been issued to States to fill up all vacant posts in district leveljudiciary to provide speedy justice to all; and
- (f) if so, the response of the States thereon?

## 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): The Ministry of Law & Justice has been implementing the Centrally Sponsored Scheme  (CSS)  for  development  of  infrastructure  facilities  for  the  judiciary  since 1993-94 to augment the resources of the State Governments for the construction of court buildings and residential accommodations of judicial officers in the District and Sub-ordinate  Judiciary.  The  scheme  takes  up  projects  for  construction  of  court buildings  and  residential  accommodation  for  the  judicial  officers  /  judges  of  the district and subordinate courts and since 2021-22, 3 new  components  viz. construction  of  lawyers  halls,  toilet  complexes  and  digital  computer  rooms  for  the convenience of lawyers and litigants have been included in the scheme.The scheme allows for new constructions and up-gradations / renovation of such court buildings and residential complexes. However, routine maintenance or up-keep is not allowed under the scheme.Development of infrastructure of District and Subordinate judiciary is primarily the responsibility of the State Governments and the Central Government supplements the resources of the State Government through the above scheme.

(b):  Under the scheme, central share of Rs. 10443.75 crores has been released since its inception in 1993-94, out of which Rs. 6999.44 crores (67.02%) has been released since 2014-15 including Rs. 577.16 crore during the current financial year as on date. Further, as per information made available by the High Courts, against the sanctioned strength  of  25,420  and  working  strength  of  20,017  Judicial  Officers,  21,507  Court Halls  and  18,882  Residential  Units  are  available  in  the  District  and  Subordinate Courts and 3,109 Court Halls and 1,807 Residential Units are under construction as on 30.11.2023. The State-wise details of funds released since inception and present status of Judicial Manpower  (sanctioned and working strength) and Judicial Infrastructure  (available  and  under  construction  court  halls  and  residential  units), including for the State of Bihar is at Annexure.

(c): No, Sir. The allocation under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme  for  the  Development  of  Judicial  Infrastructure  and  the  releases  made  to different  States/UTs  in  the  last  five  financial  years  including  current  year  is  as follows:

| Year    |   Budget Allocation (in Rs. crore) | Released (in Rs. crore)   | Percentage   |
|---------|------------------------------------|---------------------------|--------------|
| 2019-20 |                             982    | 982.00                    | 100%         |
| 2020-21 |                             593    | 593.00                    | 100%         |
| 2021-22 |                             770.44 | 684.19                    | 88%          |
| 2022-23 |                             848    | 848.00                    | 100%         |
| 2023-24 |                            1051    | 577.16*                   | 54%          |

*as on 6 th  December, 2023

As  per  extant  PFMS  guidelines  unless  funds  released  during  the  previous years are utilized, funds for the current financial year are not released.

(d):  As  against  the  sanctioned  strength  of  25,420  and  working  strength  of  20,017 Judicial Officers, 21,507 Court Halls and 18,882 Residential Units are available in the District and Subordinate Courts and 3,109 Court Halls and 1,807 Residential Units are under construction as on 30.11.2023. To take care of the basic facilities, the scheme has  been  extended  from  2021-22  to  2025-26  with  a  budgetary  outlay  of  Rs.  9000 crores including central share of Rs. 5307.00 crore for this scheme. Further, besides court halls and residential units, new components of digital computer room, lawyers' halls and toilet complexes have also been added under the ambit of the above scheme.

(e)  &  (f):  The  appointment  of  Judges  and  Judicial  Officers  in  the  District  and Subordinate Courts falls within the domain of the High Courts and State Governments concerned.  The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, through a judicial order in January 2007 in Malik  Mazhar  Sultan  case ,  stipulated  that  the  process  for  recruitment  of judges in subordinate courts would commence on 31 st  March of a calendar year and end by 31 st October of the same year. The Supreme Courtdirected State Governments/UTs and Registrars General of jurisdictional High Courts to inform the position regarding filling up of judicial vacancies andthe same is being monitored.

****

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (B)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 928 FOR ANSWER ON 8.12.2023 REGARDING 'BASIC FACILITIES IN COURT COMPLEXES'

Statewise statement Statewise funds released under the CSS for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary viz-a-viz   Judicial Manpower and Judicial Infrastructure in the District and Subordinate Judiciary

| Sl. No.   | States &Uts         |   Funds released since inception (in Rs. crore) |   Total Sanctioned Strength |   Total Working Strength |   Court Halls Available |   Court Halls Under Construction |   Residential Units Available |   Residential Units Under Construction |
|-----------|---------------------|-------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|--------------------------|-------------------------|----------------------------------|-------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
| 1         | Andaman and Nicobar |                                           13.38 |                          17 |                       13 |                      17 |                                0 |                            10 |                                      0 |
| 2         | Andhra Pradesh      |                                          227.24 |                         618 |                      536 |                     647 |                               90 |                           574 |                                     15 |
| 3         | Arunachal Pradesh   |                                           91.72 |                          44 |                       34 |                      34 |                                4 |                            32 |                                      3 |
| 4         | Assam               |                                          303.74 |                         485 |                      439 |                     431 |                              101 |                           371 |                                     19 |
| 5         | Bihar               |                                          447.07 |                        2016 |                     1543 |                    1539 |                               86 |                          1202 |                                     82 |
| 6         | Chandigarh          |                                           39.01 |                          30 |                       29 |                      31 |                                1 |                            30 |                                      0 |
| 7         | Chhattisgarh        |                                          179.16 |                         556 |                      424 |                     488 |                               38 |                           457 |                                    434 |
| 8         | D &NHaveli          |                                            7.06 |                           3 |                        2 |                       3 |                                0 |                             3 |                                      0 |
| 9         | Daman &Diu          |                                            2.32 |                           4 |                        4 |                       5 |                                3 |                             5 |                                      0 |
| 10        | Delhi               |                                          337.9  |                         887 |                      799 |                     699 |                               50 |                           348 |                                     70 |
| 11        | Goa                 |                                           48.36 |                          50 |                       40 |                      53 |                               36 |                            26 |                                      0 |
| 12        | Gujarat             |                                          649.5  |                        1720 |                     1176 |                    1531 |                              140 |                          1337 |                                     29 |
| 13        | Haryana             |                                          225.93 |                         772 |                      565 |                     566 |                               75 |                           514 |                                     65 |
| 14        | Himachal Pradesh    |                                           51.29 |                         179 |                      158 |                     170 |                               14 |                           154 |                                      1 |
| 15        | Jammu and Kashmir   |                                          251.07 |                         317 |                      224 |                     201 |                               46 |                           136 |                                      8 |
| 16        | Jharkhand           |                                          247.37 |                         693 |                      501 |                     652 |                               12 |                           580 |                                      0 |
| 17        | Karnataka           |                                          839.62 |                        1367 |                     1152 |                    1199 |                              206 |                          1158 |                                    124 |
| 18        | Kerala              |                                          195.51 |                         605 |                      514 |                     568 |                               46 |                           543 |                                     26 |
| 19        | Ladakh              |                                            0    |                          17 |                       10 |                      11 |                                0 |                             4 |                                      0 |
| 20        | Lakshadweep         |                                            0.51 |                           4 |                        3 |                       3 |                                0 |                             3 |                                      0 |
| 21        | Madhya Pradesh      |                                          752.05 |                        2028 |                     1734 |                    1560 |                              414 |                          1690 |                                    105 |
| 22        | Maharashtra         |                                          936.28 |                        2190 |                     1940 |                    2350 |                              599 |                          2055 |                                    157 |
| 23        | Manipur             |                                           97.8  |                          59 |                       49 |                      43 |                                5 |                            16 |                                      0 |
| 24        | Meghalaya           |                                          215.74 |                          99 |                       57 |                      53 |                               28 |                            26 |                                     65 |
| 25        | Mizoram             |                                           87.54 |                          74 |                       46 |                      47 |                               32 |                            37 |                                      8 |
| 26        | Nagaland            |                                          137.25 |                          34 |                       24 |                      30 |                                9 |                            39 |                                      0 |
| 27        | Odisha              |                                          179.12 |                        1006 |                      804 |                     826 |                              177 |                           727 |                                     90 |
| 28        | Puducherry          |                                           71.95 |                          29 |                       10 |                      36 |                                0 |                            36 |                                      0 |
| 29        | Punjab              |                                          602    |                         797 |                      585 |                     610 |                               72 |                           617 |                                     36 |
| 30        | Rajasthan           |                                          427.66 |                        1637 |                     1342 |                    1382 |                              248 |                          1128 |                                    120 |
| 31        | Sikkim              |                                           59.57 |                          35 |                       23 |                      20 |                                2 |                            17 |                                      1 |
| 32        | Tamil Nadu          |                                          433.79 |                        1369 |                     1040 |                    1239 |                               16 |                          1369 |                                      0 |
| 33        | Telangana           |                                           58.26 |                         560 |                      445 |                     537 |                               69 |                           475 |                                      8 |
| 34        | Tripura             |                                          137.58 |                         128 |                      108 |                      82 |                               22 |                            91 |                                     26 |
| 35        | Uttar Pradesh       |                                         1582.29 |                        3696 |                     2455 |                    2756 |                              302 |                          2436 |                                    286 |
| 36        | Uttarakhand         |                                          242.05 |                         298 |                      271 |                     252 |                               70 |                           215 |                                      3 |
| 37        | West Bengal         |                                          265.06 |                         997 |                      918 |                     836 |                               96 |                           421 |                                     26 |
|           | TOTAL               |                                        10443.8  |                       25420 |                    20017 |                   21507 |                             3109 |                         18882 |                                   1807 |