Parliamentary Committee Urges Government To Think Out Of The Box On Issue Of Vacancies In High Courts

Delhi, 11th December 2022: The parliamentary committee, on the tussle between the government and the Supreme Court collegium over the appointment of judges, has described the situation as regrettable. The parliamentary committee has urged the executive and the judiciary to think out of the box on the perennial problem of vacancies in the High Courts. The Standing Committee related to the Department of Law and Personnel, while presenting its report in the Parliament on Thursday on this issue, said that there is no agreement with the Department of Justice of the Union Ministry of Law and that there is no way to give information about the vacant posts of judges in the higher judiciary.

Notably, the time limit has been set for the appointment of judges in the second judge case and the memorandum process. But the committee regretted that both the judiciary and the executive were not following the deadline. This is delaying the recruitment process for vacant posts.

According to the report, data received from the government till December 31, 2021, shows more than 50 percent of posts were vacant in the three High Courts of Telangana, Patna and Delhi, while 40 percent of seats were vacant in 10 other high courts. Parliamentary committee chairman and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi observed that these are all big states where the number of judges is already very less in proportion to the population. This type of post lying vacant is a matter of grave concern.

The parliamentary committee also said that it is surprising to see that the Supreme Court and the government have failed to agree to amend the memorandum of procedure. Although both of them have been considering this issue for the last seven years. The Committee now expects the Government and the Judiciary to soon issue a revised memorandum of procedure, which will be more effective and transparent.

There are 25 High Courts in the country. As of December 5, only 778 judges are working in the High Court against the required 1,108 judges. According to sources, on November 25, the government had asked the Supreme Court Collegium to reconsider 20 files regarding the appointment of judges to the High Courts. Of these 20 cases, 11 were brand new, while nine were cases returned by the Supreme Court Collegium. The Central Government has returned all the new names of various High Courts while registering their objections.