Under Ramana, over 250 recommendations made for HC judges by Collegium: Report

The Supreme Court Collegium led by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana made over 250 recommendations for the appointment of judges to High Courts since 2016.

The recommendations have helped bring vacancies in courts to the lowest levels since 2016, a report by The Indian Express said.

According to data from the Ministry of Law and Justice, there are 381 vacancies against the sanctioned strength of 1,108 judges in the High Courts as of July 1. There were 411 vacancies in January and February, 402 in March, 387 in April, 391 in May, and 400 vacancies in June.

The average vacancy since January 2016 was 418 judges. The highest vacancy level in this time was 478 in August 2016, the report said, adding that the Collegium also made 11 judge recommendations for the Supreme Court.

The government also cleared the highest number of appointments during Ramana’s tenure, with 266 judges being appointed to High Courts, compared to 104 appointments under S A Bobde and 107 under Ranjan Gogoi, the report said.