371 judges’ posts vacant in High Courts, Govt tells Parliament 

As on July 18 this year, 371 posts of judges against the sanctioned strength of 1,122 judges in 25 High Courts across India were vacant, the Government has told Parliament.

“Against these vacancies, 178 proposals for the appointment of High Court Judges are at various stages of processing between the Government and the Supreme Court Collegium. The recommendations against 193 vacancies are yet to be received from the High Court Collegiums,” Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal told the Rajya Sabha on July 24.

From January 1, 2020, till July 18 this year, 35 judges have been appointed to the Supreme Court and 554 judges have been appointed to various High Courts, the Minister said.

Meghwal informed the Upper House that 349 names have been remitted to High Courts during the same period.

“As per the MoP (Memorandum of Procedure), the responsibility for initiation of proposals for appointment of judges in the Supreme Court vests with the Chief Justice of India, while the responsibility for initiation of proposals for appointment of judges in High Courts vests with the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court, in consultation with two senior-most puisne judges of the High Court.

“As per the MoP, the High Courts are required to make recommendations at least six months before the occurrence of a vacancy. However, this time limit is rarely observed. For appointments to the High Courts, the views of concerned state government are obtained in accordance with the MoP.

“The recommendations also have to be considered in the light of such other reports as may be available to the Government in respect of the names under consideration. The recommendations of the High Court Collegium, the state governments and the Government of India are then forwarded to the Supreme Court Collegium (SCC) for advice,” he said.