Lok Sabha Question No. 903 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-12-03
Subject: Appointment of Judges
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: JITENDRA CHAUDHURY, RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE, SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE, JAYSHREEBEN  PATEL, SUPRIYA SADANAND SULE, RAJEEV SHANKARRAO SATAV, YOGI ADITYANATH, P.R. SUNDARAM, SRIRAM MALYADRI, VIJAYSINH MOHITE PATIL, ANIRUDHAN SAMPATH, HARISHCHANDRA DEORAM CHAVAN, VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.903

## TO BE ANSWERED ON THURSDAY, THE 03.12.2015

## Appointment of Judges

## 903. SHRI JITENDRA CHAUDHURY:

SHRI RAHUL SHEWALE:

DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

SHRIMATI JAYSHREEBEN PATEL:

SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:

SHRI SATAV RAJEEV:

SHRI YOGI ADITYA NATH:

SHRI P.R. SUNDARAM:

SHRI MALYADRI SRIRAM:

SHRI MOHITE PATIL VIJAYSINH SHANKARRAO:

DR. A. SAMPATH:

SHRI HARISHCHANDRA CHAVAN:

SHRI VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT

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

- (a)  the  total  sanctioned  strength  of  Judges  in  the  Supreme  Court,  High  Courts  and Subordinate Courts in the country along with the number of posts lying vacant at present, State/UT-wise;
- (b) the details of High Courts functioning without regular/permanent Chief Justice State/UTwise;
- (c) the total number  of  Judges appointed during the current year in the country, State/UT/Court-wise; and
- (d)  the  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  to  fill  up  the  vacancies  of  judges  in various courts across the country at the earliest?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE (SHRI D.V. SADANANDA GOWDA)

(a) :    A statement showing the Approved Strength, Working Strength and Vacancies of judges in  the  Supreme  Court  and  the  High  Courts  as  on  27.11.2015  is  given  in  the  Statement  at Annexure. I . The appointment of judicial officers/ judges in the District/ Subordinate Courts is in the domain of the State Governments and High Courts concerned. The data on

:  2  :

sanctioned strength and working strength of judicial officers/ judges in District and Subordinate Courts as on 31-12-2014 is given in the statement at Annexure-II.

(b)  :        A  statement  showing  the  details  of  High  Courts  functioning  without  regular/permanent Chief Justice as on 27.11.2015 is given in the Statement at Annexure. III.

(c)    :      A  statement  showing  the  number    of  Judges  appointed  during  the  current  year  in  the Supreme Court and the High Courts as on 27.11.2015  is given in the Statement at Annexure. IV.

(d) :     Filling up of the vacancies in the High Courts is a time consuming process, as it requires consultation and approval from various Constitutional authorities. While every effort is made to fill up  the  existing  vacancies  expeditiously,  vacancies  do  keep  on  arising  on  account  of  retirement, resignation  or  elevation  of  Judges  and  increase  in  the  Judge  strength  of  High  Courts.    The Collegium system of appointment of Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts ceased to exist consequent upon the coming into force of the Constitution (Ninety-Ninth Amendment) Act, 2014 and the National Judicial Appointments  Commission  Act,  2014  w.e.f  13.04.2015. The Constitutional validity of both the Acts was challenged in Supreme Court.  During the period only those Additional Judges whose terms were expiring were given extensions of three months as per the Supreme Court Orders dated 12.05.2015 and 15.07.2015. The Supreme Court pronounced its judgment on 16.10.2015 and declared both the Acts as unconstitutional and void. The Collegium system  as  existing  prior  to  the  enforcement  of  the  Constitution  (Ninety-Ninth  Amendment)  Act, 2014 was declared to be operative.  The Supreme Court however asked for suggestions to improve the  Collegium  system  and  on  19.11.2015  reserved  its  judgment  on  that  issue.    All  proposals  for appointment of Judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts are now being processed through the Collegium system.

***

Annexure. I Annexure referred to in reply to part (a)  of  Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.903 for answer on 3.11.2015

| Sl. No.   | Name of the Court                     | Approved Strength   | Working Strength   | Vacancies as per Approved Strength   |
|-----------|---------------------------------------|---------------------|--------------------|--------------------------------------|
| I         | Supreme Court of India                | 31                  | 28                 | 03                                   |
| II        | High Court                            |                     |                    |                                      |
| 1         | Allahabad                             | 160                 | 75                 | 85                                   |
| 2         | High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad | 49                  | 27                 | 22                                   |
| 3         | Bombay                                | 94                  | 60                 | 34                                   |
| 4         | Calcutta                              | 58                  | 42                 | 16                                   |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh                          | 22                  | 09                 | 13                                   |
| 6         | Delhi                                 | 60                  | 39                 | 21                                   |
| 7         | Gauhati                               | 24                  | 16                 | 08                                   |
| 8         | Gujarat                               | 52                  | 28                 | 24                                   |
| 9         | Himachal Pradesh                      | 13                  | 07                 | 06                                   |
| 10        | Jammu &Kashmir                        | 17                  | 10                 | 07                                   |
| 11        | Jharkhand                             | 25                  | 14                 | 11                                   |
| 12        | Karnataka                             | 62                  | 31                 | 31                                   |
| 13        | Kerala                                | 38                  | 35                 | 03                                   |
| 14        | Madhya Pradesh                        | 53                  | 30                 | 23                                   |
| 15        | Madras                                | 60                  | 37                 | 23                                   |
| 16        | Manipur                               | 04                  | 03                 | 01                                   |
| 17        | Meghalaya                             | 03                  | 03                 | 0                                    |
| 18        | Orissa                                | 27                  | 22                 | 05                                   |
| 19        | Patna                                 | 43                  | 29                 | 14                                   |
| 20        | Punjab& Haryana                       | 85                  | 50                 | 35                                   |
| 21        | Rajasthan                             | 50                  | 25                 | 25                                   |
| 22        | Sikkim                                | 03                  | 02                 | 01                                   |
| 23        | Tripura                               | 04                  | 04                 | 0                                    |
|           | Uttarakhand                           | 11                  | 06                 | 05                                   |
| 24        | Total                                 | 1017                | 604                | 413                                  |

## Annexure - II

Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of Lok Sabha unstarred Question No.903 for answer on 3.12.2015

Sanctioned Strength, Working Strength and Vacancies of Judges / Judicial Officers in District and Subordinate Courts as on 31.12.2014

| S. No.   | State / Union Territory          |   Sanctioned Strength |   Working Strength |   Vacancies |
|----------|----------------------------------|-----------------------|--------------------|-------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh and Telangana     |                  1034 |                884 |         150 |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh                |                    16 |                 15 |           1 |
| 3        | Assam                            |                   403 |                312 |          91 |
| 4        | Bihar                            |                  1670 |               1027 |         643 |
| 5        | Chandigarh                       |                    30 |                 30 |           0 |
| 6        | Chhattisgarh                     |                   354 |                302 |          52 |
| 7        | Delhi                            |                   793 |                476 |         317 |
| 8        | Diu and Daman &Silvasa           |                     7 |                  6 |           1 |
| 9        | Goa                              |                    52 |                 40 |          12 |
| 10       | Gujarat                          |                  1963 |               1216 |         747 |
| 11       | Haryana                          |                   644 |                485 |         159 |
| 12       | Himachal Pradesh                 |                   146 |                128 |          18 |
| 13       | Jammu and Kashmir                |                   244 |                221 |          23 |
| 14       | Jharkhand                        |                   578 |                382 |         196 |
| 15       | Karnataka                        |                  1085 |                832 |         253 |
| 16       | Kerala and Lakshadweep           |                   447 |                431 |          16 |
| 17       | Madhya Pradesh                   |                  1460 |               1243 |         217 |
| 18       | Maharashtra                      |                  2072 |               1784 |         288 |
| 19       | Manipur                          |                    40 |                 30 |          10 |
| 20       | Meghalaya                        |                    55 |                 30 |          25 |
| 21       | Mizoram                          |                    67 |                 31 |          36 |
| 22       | Nagaland                         |                    27 |                 25 |           2 |
| 23       | Orissa                           |                   690 |                569 |         121 |
| 24       | Puducherry                       |                    21 |                 10 |          11 |
| 25       | Punjab                           |                   672 |                505 |         167 |
| 26       | Rajasthan                        |                  1145 |                831 |         314 |
| 27       | Sikkim                           |                    18 |                 15 |           3 |
| 28       | Tamil Nadu                       |                   997 |                876 |         121 |
| 29       | Tripura                          |                   104 |                 78 |          26 |
| 30       | Uttar Pradesh                    |                  2097 |               1761 |         336 |
| 31       | Uttarakhand                      |                   289 |                191 |          98 |
| 32       | West Bengal and Andaman& Nicobar |                   994 |                868 |         126 |
| Total    | Total                            |                 20214 |              15634 |        4580 |

Data provisional

Source : High Courts

Annexure. III

## LIST OF ACTING CHIEF JUSTICES OF THE HIGH COURTS    (As on 27/11/2015)

|   SL. NO. | NAMEOFTHEHIGH COURT                    | NAMEOFTHE ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE S/SHRI JUSTICE   | REMARKS        |
|-----------|----------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|----------------|
|         1 | HIGH COURT OF JUDICIATURE AT HYDERABAD | D.B.BHOSALE                                     | ACJ 07/05/2015 |
|         2 | BOMBAY                                 | SMT.V.K.TAHILRAMANI                             | ACJ 09/09/2015 |
|         3 | GAUHATI                                | TINLIANTHANG VAIPHEI                            | ACJ 21/10/2015 |
|         4 | GUJARAT                                | JAYANT MANGANLAL PATEL                          | ACJ 13/08/2015 |
|         5 | KARNATAKA                              | S.K.MUKHERJEE                                   | ACJ 01/06/2015 |
|         6 | PATNA                                  | IQBAL AHMED ANSARI                              | ACJ 01/08/2015 |
|         7 | PUNJAB &HARYANA                        | S.J. VAZIFDAR                                   | ACJ 15/12/2014 |
|         8 | RAJASTHAN                              | AJIT SINGH                                      | ACJ 23/08/2015 |

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (c)  of  Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.903 for answer on 3.12.2015

## FRESH APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES MADE IN THE SUPREME COURT AND HIGH COURTS (AS ON 27.11.2015)

| S l. No   | Name of the Court      | No. of fresh appointments made   |
|-----------|------------------------|----------------------------------|
| A.        | Supreme Court of India | 01                               |
| B.        | HIGH COURT             |                                  |
| 1.        | GAUHATI                | 05                               |
| 2.        | ALLAHABAD              | 07                               |
| 3.        | CALCUTTA               | 08                               |
| 4.        | KERALA                 | 07                               |
| 5.        | SIKKIM                 | 01                               |
| 6.        | ORISSA                 | 03                               |
| 7.        | JHARKHAND              | 01                               |
| 8.        | PATNA                  | 02                               |
| 9.        | PUNJAB &HARYANA        | 01                               |
|           | TOTAL                  | 35                               |