7,310 posts of district judges vacant across India; Punjab, Haryana among worst hit

As many as 7,310 posts of judges in district court are vacant across India, with Punjab and Haryana recording 138 and 139 vacancies, respectively.

Against the total sanctioned strength of 30,868 judges in the district judiciary across India, the total working strength stood at 23,558 judges with the rest 7,310 posts of judges  remaining vacant, Union Minister for Law and Justice (Independent Charge) Arjun Ram Meghwal told the Rajya Sabha on July 23.

Punjab — which has a sanctioned strength of 834 judges in the district judiciary — was functioning with only 696 judicial officers and had 138 vacancies.

Similarly, Haryana had 139 vacancies as it was functioning with only 648 judicial officers in the district judiciary against a sanctioned strength of 787 judges.

There were only 20 vacancies in the district judiciary of Himachal Pradesh, which had 172 judges against a sanctioned strength of 192 judges.

The highest 1,640 vacancies were in the district judiciary of Karnataka where 58 per cent of the total 2,812 sanctioned posts were vacant with the state having only 1,172 judges, followed by Uttar Pradesh which had 1,082 vacancies as it was functioning with 2,618 judges against a sanctioned strength of 3,700 judges.

According to Meghwal’s reply, Maharashtra 897 vacancies (4,350 judges against a sanctioned strength of 5,247), Gujarat 535 vacancies (1,185 judges against a sanctioned strength of 1,720) and Bihar 374 vacancies (1,658 judges against a sanctioned strength of 2,032), Madhya Pradesh 368 vacancies (1,683 judges against a sanctioned strength of 2,051), Odisha 329 vacancies (854 judges against a sanctioned strength of 1,183) and Jharkhand 212 vacancies (498 judges against a sanctioned strength of 710) stood at third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth place, respectively.

Union territories had the least vacancies with Chandigarh and Daman & Diu reporting zero vacancy against a sanctioned strength of 30 and 4 respectively while Lakshadweep had three vacancies against a sanctioned strength of 5 judges.

Delhi had 118 vacancies in its district judiciary as it had only 832 judges against a sanctioned strength of 950 judges while Jammu and Kashmir reported 55 vacancies (267 judges against a sanctioned strength of 322) and Ladakh 9 vacancies (8 judges against a sanctioned strength of 17) .

Puducherry had 12 of its 38 sanctioned posts of judges vacant while Andaman and Nicobar had 12 judges despite having zero sanctioned strength of judges, the Minister told the Rajya Sabha.