Collegium yet to make recommendations for 191 existing and 45 future vacancies of judges, Law Minister to RS

Against the sanctioned strength of 1108 judges in various High Courts, 775 judges are working and 333 post of Judges are vacant as on January 30, Rijiju said

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday informed the Rajya Sabha that as on January 30, recommendations in respect of 236 vacancies --191 existing and 45 anticipated vacancies during next six months-- are yet to be received from High Court Collegiums, which are in breach of six months’ advance timeline for making recommendation for vacancies.

Against the sanctioned strength of 1108 judges in various High Courts, 775 judges are working and 333 post of Judges are vacant as on January 30, he said.

A total of 142 proposals recommended by the High Court Collegiums are at various stages of processing. Out of these, four proposals are pending with the Supreme Court Collegium and 138 are under various stages of processing in the government.

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In response to a query by MP John Brittas, the Minister said as on January 31, 2023, there are total 18 proposals for appointment of judges on which reconsideration from Supreme Court Collegium has been sought.

Of these, the Collegium decided to reiterate six cases, desired updated inputs in seven cases from the High Court Collegiums, and decided to remit five cases to the High Courts.

As on January 30, 2023, against the sanctioned strength of 34 Judges, 27 Judges are working in the Supreme Court, leaving seven vacancies. Supreme Court Collegium (SCC) has recently made seven recommendations to fill up all the vacancies of Judges in the Supreme Court, he said.

In reply to another query, the provisions for appointment of judges in High Courts and the Supreme Court under the Constitution do not provide for any reservation for any caste and class of persons. In the last six years, a total of 19 SC, six ST and 58 OBC, 27 Minority and 84 women were appointed as judges out of aggregate 554 appointments.