SC Collegium reiterated 13 names for HC judges, govt appointed 8 of them: Rijiju in LS

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said appointment of HC judges is a collaborative process between Executive and Judiciary and involves approval from various Constitutional authorities at State and Central levels

Union Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju speaks in the Lok Sabha during Parliament’s Monsoon Session | Photo Credit: -

The government has appointed 61 judges in the higher judiciary out of the 127 names recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium between December 1 last year and July 26, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Friday.

Besides these 127 fresh recommendations, the top court collegium also reiterated 13 names in the same period of which eight appointments have been made, Mr Rijiju said in a written reply.

“During the period December 1, 2021 to July 26, 2022, the Supreme Court Collegium has recommended 140 names (127 fresh and 13 reiterated). Out of 127 fresh recommendations, 61 appointments have been made including extension of term of one additional judge and 66 cases, which have been recommended by Supreme Court Collegium recently, are at various stages of processing with the government,” he said.

Trinamool Congress member Kalyan Banerjee was one of the two members, who had posed a query on judicial posts lying vacant.

Filling up of vacancies in the high courts is a continuous, integrated and collaborative process between the Executive and the Judiciary, he said, adding that the process requires consultation and approval from various Constitutional authorities both at the State and Central level.

“While every effort is made to fill up the existing vacancies expeditiously, vacancies of judges in high courts do keep on arising on account of retirement, resignation or elevation of judges and also due to increase in the strength of judges,” Mr. Rijiju said.

In response to another question on pendency of cases, the Minister said the district and subordinate courts have over 4.23 crore cases pending. While 72,062 cases are pending in Supreme Court as on July 1, 59,55,873 cases were pending in the 25 high courts as on July 25. In all, a total of over 4.83 crore cases are pending across various courts.