NEW DELHI: In an ongoing tussle between the government and the SC over delayed appointment of judges in high courts, law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal informed Lok Sabha on Friday that at least 42 recommendations for appointment of HC judges are currently pending with the apex court collegium for its approval, while 60 others were remitted to the HCs concerned for reconsideration.
No timeline is being adhered to by the high court collegiums on initiation of recommendations against vacancies, he said, citing the fact that for 198 vacancies across high courts, the collegiums of these HCs have not made any recommendations so far, leading to a huge backlog.
Currently, 29% of judges’ posts in 25 high courts are vacant. Against a sanctioned strength of 1,114 judges, there are 324 vacancies as on December 1. During 2022, the government had notified appointments of 165 judges, and 110 in 2023, till December 4.
In a written response to a question, Meghwal expressed concern over delayed recommendations by HC collegiums.
“As per memorandum of procedure (MoP), initiation of proposal for appointment of Judges in the High Courts vests with the Chief Justice of the concerned HC, who is required to initiate the proposal to fill up vacancy six months prior to the occurrence of vacancy. However, this timeline is often not adhered to by the High Courts,” Meghwal said.
Once these HC collegiums recommend candidates for judgeship, the government with its Intelligence Bureau inputs, refers them to the SC collegium, which finally selects and recommends them to the government for appointments. On recommendations where the SC collegium has reservations, these cases are referred back to the HCs concerned for reconsideration.
“As on January 1 this year, 171 proposals received from High Court collegiums were at different stages of processing. During the year, 121 fresh proposals were received. Out of the total 292 proposals for consideration, 110 Judges have been appointed and 60 were remitted to the High Courts on the advice of the SC collegium. As of December 4, about 122 proposals are at various stages of processing,” the law minister said.
Out of these 122 proposals, 87 were sent to the SC collegium (SCC) for seeking advice against which the SCC has provided advice on 45 proposals which are at various stages of processing in the government and 42 proposals are under consideration with the SCC. About 35 fresh proposals received recently are being processed for seeking the advice of the SCC. Recommendations are yet to be received from HC collegiums in respect of the remaining 198 vacancies, Meghwal said.
No timeline is being adhered to by the high court collegiums on initiation of recommendations against vacancies, he said, citing the fact that for 198 vacancies across high courts, the collegiums of these HCs have not made any recommendations so far, leading to a huge backlog.
Currently, 29% of judges’ posts in 25 high courts are vacant. Against a sanctioned strength of 1,114 judges, there are 324 vacancies as on December 1. During 2022, the government had notified appointments of 165 judges, and 110 in 2023, till December 4.
In a written response to a question, Meghwal expressed concern over delayed recommendations by HC collegiums.
“As per memorandum of procedure (MoP), initiation of proposal for appointment of Judges in the High Courts vests with the Chief Justice of the concerned HC, who is required to initiate the proposal to fill up vacancy six months prior to the occurrence of vacancy. However, this timeline is often not adhered to by the High Courts,” Meghwal said.
Once these HC collegiums recommend candidates for judgeship, the government with its Intelligence Bureau inputs, refers them to the SC collegium, which finally selects and recommends them to the government for appointments. On recommendations where the SC collegium has reservations, these cases are referred back to the HCs concerned for reconsideration.
“As on January 1 this year, 171 proposals received from High Court collegiums were at different stages of processing. During the year, 121 fresh proposals were received. Out of the total 292 proposals for consideration, 110 Judges have been appointed and 60 were remitted to the High Courts on the advice of the SC collegium. As of December 4, about 122 proposals are at various stages of processing,” the law minister said.
Out of these 122 proposals, 87 were sent to the SC collegium (SCC) for seeking advice against which the SCC has provided advice on 45 proposals which are at various stages of processing in the government and 42 proposals are under consideration with the SCC. About 35 fresh proposals received recently are being processed for seeking the advice of the SCC. Recommendations are yet to be received from HC collegiums in respect of the remaining 198 vacancies, Meghwal said.
