Nearly 6,000 posts vacant as govt hikes number of judges
ASA RESULT OF THE VACANCIES, ALMOST 3 CRORE CASES ARE PENDING IN INDIAN COURTS. OF THESE, 40 LAKHS ARE IN HCS
to statistics provided by the law ministry, the Narendra Modi government has substantially increased the number of posts for judges in high courts and judicial officers in the districts while failing to fill preexisting vacancies.
The number of unfulfilled judicial posts has skyrocketed. Nearly 40% of judges are missing from the 24 high courts and 26% of judges are missing from the 707 districts.
As a result, almost 3 crore cases are pending in Indian courts. Of these, 40 lakhs are in high courts. The government says it is ready to make a plan to solve the problem.
“Over the next few months, we will put in place a road map to tackle pendency of cases,” said junior law minister PP Chaudhary. “This road map is being worked out with the judiciary.”
But another senior official of the law ministry said on condition of anonymity that the gap is too wide for a solution soon.
In the last three years, the Modi government increased the number of posts for high court judges from 906 to 1,079. As of June 26, a whopping 408 of these posts lay empty. “A gap of around 10% can be expected, but this is abnormally high,” said a source involved with appointments.
Among judicial officers, the NDA raised the sanctioned number from 19,518 to 22,258. The number of vacant posts is now 5,875, with nearly half of the new posts still unoccupied.
Collegiums at the level of state courts and the Supreme Court, composed of five top judges each, jointly appoint new members. The HC collegiums send recommendations to the SC collegium, which then approves them and sends them to the government.
The process has been jammed for a number of reasons. According to sources in the law ministry, HC collegiums have not even made a recommendation for 275 vacancies. Forty-three candidates approved by the SC were questioned by the Centre twice, leading to a delay of over a year. This stalling has been going on since long before the NDA, though it has worsened during their time in power. New guidelines on the appointment system are being debated by each side, further adding to the deadlock.
District judges, meanwhile, are appointed solely by HCs,.
Chaudhary emphasised that the Centre is not to blame for the vacancies. “The government has nothing to do with filling these posts,” he said. “These appointments are directly under the high courts. We are hoping these will be filled soon.”