Lok Sabha Question No. 2056 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-07-28
Subject: Appointment of Judges
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: RAMDAS CHANDRABHANJI TADAS, RAJAN BABURAO  VICHARE, M. B. RAJESH, DHANANJAY BHIMRAO MAHADIK, P. KARUNAKARAN, MEENAKASHI LEKHI, VIJAYSINH MOHITE PATIL, RAJEEV SHANKARRAO SATAV, N.K. PREMACHANDRAN, PRABHAS KUMAR SINGH, THOKCHOM MEINYA, KONAKALLA NARAYANA RAO, KURUPPASSERY VARKEY THOMAS

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2056

## TO BE ANSWERED ON THURSDAY, THE 28.07.2016

## Appointment of Judges

## †2056. SHRI RAMDAS C. TADAS:

SHRI RAJAN VICHARE:

SHRI M.B. RAJESH:

SHRI DHANANJAY MAHADIK:

SHRI P. KARUNAKARAN:

SHRIMATI MEENAKASHI LEKHI:

SHRI MOHITE PATIL VIJAYSINH SHANKARRAO:

SHRI SATAV RAJEEV:

SHRI N.K. PREMACHANDRAN:

DR. PRABHAS KUMAR SINGH:

DR. THOKCHOM MEINYA:

SHRI KONAKALLA NARAYANA RAO:

PROF. K.V. THOMAS:

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

- (a) the approved/working strength and vacancies of Judges in the Supreme Court, High Courts and Subordinate Courts at present along with the number of Judges appointed during 2015-16 in these courts, State-wise;
- (b) whether the Chief Justice of India has recently observed that huge gap in the judgespopulation ratio is the main reason for huge pendency of court cases and has projected a requirement of 70,000 more judges to clear the backlog and if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the Government thereto;
- (c)  the  details  and  the  present  implementation  status  of  new  and  improved  collegium system for appointment of judges;
- (d)  whether  the  Government  has  any  data  regarding  the  number/percentage  of  law graduates appeared in the Judicial Services Examination in 2015-16 and if so, the details thereof; and

(e)  the  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  to  attract  young/talented  law graduates towards judicial services in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR LAW AND JUSTICE AND ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY)

(a):        A statement showing the approved strength, working strength and vacancies of Judges  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  India  and  the  High  Courts  as  on  25.7.2016  is  at Annexure-I .  A  statement showing the number of Judges appointed in Supreme Court and High Courts during 2015-16, State-wise is at Annexure-II .  A  statement showing the sanctioned strength, working Strength and vacancies of Judicial officers of District and Subordinate Courts as on 31.12.2015 is at Annexure-III. The Government does not maintain data on number of judicial officers/judges appointed in various States.

(b):      The Hon'ble Chief Justice of India (CJI) during his inaugural address in the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High Courts held on 24.04.2016, inter-alia,  made a mention of the recommendations made by the Law Commission of India  in  its  120th  Report  (1987)  for  increasing  the  ratio  of  judges  per  million  of population to 50.  However, the criteria of judge-population ratio for determining the adequacy  of  the  Judge  Strength  in  the  country  has  been  reviewed  by  the  Law Commission in its 245th Report (2014) prepared on the direction of the Supreme Court in the case of Imtiyaz Ahmed versus State of Uttar Pradesh and others.  In this case the Supreme Court asked the Law Commission of India to evolve a method for scientific assessment of the number of additional courts to clear the backlog of cases.  In 245th report,  the  Law  Commission  has  observed  that  filing  of  cases  per  capita  varies substantially across geographic units as filings are associated with economic and social conditions of the population.  As such the Law Commission did not consider the judge population ratio to be a scientific criterion for determining the adequacy of the judge strength in the country.  The Law Commission found that in the absence of complete and scientific approach to data collection across various High Courts in the country, the 'Rate of Disposal' method to calculate the number of additional judges required to clear the  backlog  of  cases  as  well  as  to  ensure  that  new  backlog  is  not  created,  is  more pragmatic and useful.  In May, 2014, the Supreme Court asked the State Government and the  High  Courts  to  file  their  response  to  the  recommendations  made  by  the  Law Commission. In August 2014, the Supreme Court asked the National Court Management  System  Committee  (NCMS)  constituted  by  it  in  2012  to  examine  the recommendations made by the Law Commission and to furnish their recommendations in this regard.  NCMS submitted its report to the Supreme Court in March, 2016.  It has, inter-alia, observed that in the long term, the judge strength of the subordinate courts

will  have  to  be  assessed  by  a  scientific  method  to  determine  the  total  number  of 'Judicial Hours' required for disposing of the case load of each court.  In the interim, this  Committee has proposed a 'weighted' disposal approach  - disposal  weighted by the nature and complexity of cases in local conditions.  The matter is sub-judice before the Supreme Court.

(c):            As  per  Supreme  Court  Order  dated  16.12.2015,  the  Government  of  India proposed  changes  in  the  draft  Memorandum  of  Procedure  (MoP)  for  appointment  of Judges to the Supreme Court and High Courts which were sent to Chief Justice of India (CJI)  vide  letter  dated  22.3.2016.  The  response  of  the  CJI  has  been  received  on 22.5.2016 and 1.7.2016. The Supreme Court Collegium has agreed with some of the suggestions  made  in  the  revised  MoP  while  it  has  not  agreed  with  some  other provisions. Presently all the proposals are being processed as per the existing MoP.

(d):        The  Government  of  India  does  not  maintain  data  regarding  the  number /percentage of Law graduates appearing in Judicial Services examinations.

(e):              The  matters  relating  to  recruitment  to  the  judicial  services  in  the  States  fall within  the  domain  of  the  High  Courts  and  State  Governments.   An  agenda  item  for creation of a Judicial Service Commission to help the recruitment to the post of district judges  and  review  of  selection  process  of  judges  /  judicial  officers  at  all  levels  was included in the agenda for the Chief Justices Conference, which was held on 03rd and 04th  April,  2015.   During  the  Conference,  it  was  resolved  to  leave  it  open  to  the respective High Courts to evolve appropriate methods within the existing system to fill up the vacancies for appointment of District judges expeditiously.

* * *

Annexure-I  referred  to  Part  (a)  of  LSUSQ  No.  2056  due  for  answer  on  28.7.2016.    Statement  showing  the Approved strength, Working Strength and Vacancies of Judges in the Supreme Court of India and the High Courts (As on 25.07.2016)

| Sl. No.   | Name of the Court                      | Approved Strength   | Approved Strength   | Approved Strength   | Working Strength   | Working Strength   | Working Strength   | Vacancies as per Approved Strength   | Vacancies as per Approved Strength   | Vacancies as per Approved Strength   |
|-----------|----------------------------------------|---------------------|---------------------|---------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| A.        | Supreme Court of India                 | 31                  | 31                  | 31                  | 28                 | 28                 | 28                 | 03                                   | 03                                   | 03                                   |
| B.        | High Court                             | Pmt.                | Addl                | Total               | Pmt.               | Addl               | Total              | Pmt.                                 | Addl                                 | Total                                |
| 1         | Allahabad*                             | 76                  | 84                  | 160                 | 60                 | 17                 | 77                 | 16                                   | 67                                   | 83                                   |
| 2         | High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad* | 46                  | 15                  | 61                  | 25                 | 0                  | 25                 | 21                                   | 15                                   | 36                                   |
| 3         | Bombay                                 | 71                  | 23                  | 94                  | 55                 | 09                 | 64                 | 16                                   | 14                                   | 30                                   |
| 4         | Calcutta                               | 54                  | 18                  | 72                  | 32                 | 09                 | 41                 | 22                                   | 09                                   | 31                                   |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh                           | 17                  | 05                  | 22                  | 08                 | --                 | 08                 | 09                                   | 05                                   | 14                                   |
| 6         | Delhi                                  | 45                  | 15                  | 60                  | 35                 | 0                  | 35                 | 10                                   | 15                                   | 25                                   |
| 7         | Gauhati                                | 18                  | 06                  | 24                  | 06                 | 07                 | 13                 | 12                                   | -01                                  | 11                                   |
| 8         | Gujarat                                | 39                  | 13                  | 52                  | 27                 | 06                 | 33                 | 12                                   | 07                                   | 19                                   |
| 9         | Himachal Pradesh                       | 10                  | 03                  | 13                  | 09                 | 02                 | 11                 | 01                                   | 01                                   | 02                                   |
| 10        | Jammu &Kashmir                         | 13                  | 04                  | 17                  | 09                 | 0                  | 09                 | 04                                   | 04                                   | 08                                   |
| 11        | Jharkhand                              | 19                  | 06                  | 25                  | 09                 | 05                 | 14                 | 10                                   | 01                                   | 11                                   |
| 12        | Karnataka                              | 47                  | 15                  | 62                  | 23                 | 04                 | 27                 | 24                                   | 11                                   | 35                                   |
| 13        | Kerala *                               | 35                  | 12                  | 47                  | 26                 | 07                 | 33                 | 09                                   | 05                                   | 14                                   |
| 14        | Madhya Pradesh *                       | 40                  | 13                  | 53                  | 22                 | 12                 | 34                 | 18                                   | 01                                   | 19                                   |
| 15        | Madras                                 | 56                  | 19                  | 75                  | 38                 | 0                  | 38                 | 18                                   | 19                                   | 37                                   |
| 16        | Manipur*                               | 04                  | 01                  | 05                  | 03                 | 01                 | 04                 | 01                                   | 0                                    | 01                                   |
| 17        | Meghalaya                              | 03                  | 01                  | 04                  | 03                 | 0                  | 03                 | 0                                    | 01                                   | 01                                   |
| 18        | Orissa                                 | 20                  | 07                  | 27                  | 16                 | 03                 | 19                 | 04                                   | 04                                   | 08                                   |
| 19        | Patna *                                | 40                  | 13                  | 53                  | 27                 | 0                  | 27                 | 13                                   | 13                                   | 26                                   |
| 20        | Punjab& Haryana *                      | 64                  | 21                  | 85                  | 42                 | 02                 | 44                 | 22                                   | 19                                   | 41                                   |
| 21        | Rajasthan                              | 38                  | 12                  | 50                  | 24                 | 07                 | 31                 | 14                                   | 05                                   | 19                                   |
| 22        | Sikkim *                               | 03                  | 0                   | 03                  | 02                 | 0                  | 02                 | 01                                   | 0                                    | 01                                   |
| 23        | Tripura*                               | 04                  | 0                   | 04                  | 04                 | 0                  | 04                 | 0                                    | 0                                    | 0                                    |
| 24        | Uttarakhand                            | 09                  | 02                  | 11                  | 06                 | 0                  | 06                 | 03                                   | 02                                   | 05                                   |
| Total     | Total                                  | 771                 | 308                 | 1079                | 511                | 91                 | 602                | 260                                  | 217                                  | 477                                  |

* Acting Chief Justice

Annexure-II referred to Part (a) of LSUSQ No. 2056 due for answer on 28.7.2016.

| Sl. No.                   | Name of the Court          | Fresh appointments made during   | Fresh appointments made during   |
|---------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|
| Sl. No.                   | Name of the Court          | 1.1.2015 to 31.12.2015           | 1.1.2016 to 25.7.2016            |
| A. Supreme Court of India | A. Supreme Court of India  | 01                               | 04                               |
| B. High Court             | B. High Court              |                                  |                                  |
| 1                         | Allahabad                  | 07                               | 09                               |
| 2                         | Telangana & Andhra Pradesh | --                               | 01                               |
| 3                         | Bombay                     | --                               | 06                               |
| 4                         | Calcutta                   | 08                               | --                               |
| 5                         | Gauhati                    | 05                               | --                               |
| 6                         | Gujarat                    | --                               | 05                               |
| 7                         | Himachal Pradesh           | --                               | 04                               |
| 8                         | Jharkhand                  | 01                               | 02                               |
| 9                         | Kerala                     | 07                               | --                               |
| 10                        | Madhya Pradesh             | --                               | 11                               |
| 11                        | Madras                     | --                               | 06                               |
| 12                        | Manipur                    | --                               | 01                               |
| 13                        | Orissa                     | 03                               | --                               |
| 14                        | Patna                      | 02                               | --                               |
| 15                        | Punjab& Haryana            | 01                               | --                               |
| 16                        | Rajasthan                  |                                  | 07                               |
| 17                        | Sikkim                     | 01                               | --                               |
| Total                     | Total                      | 35                               | 52                               |

Annexure-III referred to Part (a) of LSUSQ No. 2056 due for answer on 28.7.2016.

## Sanctioned  Strength,  Working  Strength  and  Vacancies  of  Judicial  Officers  of District and Subordinate Courts As on 31.12.2015

| Sr. No.        | Name of State / UT                 |   Total Sanctioned Strength |   Total Working Strength |   Vacancies |
|----------------|------------------------------------|-----------------------------|--------------------------|-------------|
| 1              | Arunachal Pradesh                  |                          17 |                       15 |           2 |
| 2              | Andhra Pradesh & Telengana         |                        1034 |                      785 |         249 |
| 3              | Assam                              |                         424 |                      319 |         105 |
| 4              | Bihar                              |                        1727 |                     1067 |         660 |
| 5              | Chandigarh                         |                          30 |                       30 |           0 |
| 6              | Chhattisgarh                       |                         385 |                      341 |          44 |
| 7              | Daman & Diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli |                           7 |                        6 |           1 |
| 8              | Delhi                              |                         793 |                      490 |         303 |
| 9              | Goa                                |                          57 |                       49 |           8 |
| 10             | Gujarat                            |                        1939 |                     1170 |         769 |
| 11             | Haryana                            |                         644 |                      474 |         170 |
| 12             | Himachal Pradesh                   |                         152 |                      134 |          18 |
| 13             | Jammu and Kashmir                  |                         245 |                      220 |          25 |
| 14             | Jharkhand                          |                         592 |                      466 |         126 |
| 15             | Karnataka                          |                        1122 |                      820 |         302 |
| 16             | Kerala                             |                         457 |                      442 |          15 |
| 17             | Lakshadweep                        |                           3 |                        3 |           0 |
| 18             | Madhya Pradesh                     |                        1350 |                     1132 |         218 |
| 19             | Maharashtra                        |                        2251 |                     1917 |         334 |
| 20             | Manipur                            |                          41 |                       35 |           6 |
| 21             | Meghalaya                          |                          57 |                       29 |          28 |
| 22             | Mizoram                            |                          63 |                       30 |          33 |
| 23             | Nagaland                           |                          27 |                       25 |           2 |
| 24             | Orissa                             |                         716 |                      598 |         118 |
| 25             | Puducherry                         |                          26 |                       14 |          12 |
| 26             | Punjab                             |                         672 |                      490 |         182 |
| 27             | Rajasthan                          |                        1191 |                      985 |         206 |
| 28             | Sikkim                             |                          18 |                       14 |           4 |
| 29             | Tamil nadu                         |                        1015 |                      969 |          46 |
| 30             | Tripura                            |                         104 |                       68 |          36 |
| 31             | Uttar Pradesh                      |                        2104 |                     1827 |         277 |
| 32             | Uttarakhand                        |                         280 |                      206 |          74 |
| 33 West Bengal | and A & N Islands                  |                         959 |                      900 |          59 |
| Total          | Total                              |                       20502 |                    16070 |        4432 |