India needs 69,600 judges as against current strength of 25,081, says SC report

Satya Prakash

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New Delhi, December 16

Thirty six years after the Law Commission recommended increasing the then judge-population ratio from 10 judges to 50 judges per million population, the Indian judiciary continues to struggle to achieve it.

“As against the total sanctioned strength of 25,081 judges, there is a shortage of 5,300 judges in district judiciary, with maximum vacancy in the States of Uttar Pradesh (1,204) and Bihar (460),” said a ‘State of Judiciary’ report released by the Supreme Court.

“Out of these 5,300 vacancies, 1,788 vacancies (21%) are in the District Judge Cadre against the sanctioned strength of 8,387 District Judges and 3,512 vacancies (21%) are in the Civil Judge Cadre against the sanctioned strength of 16,694 Civil Judges,” it said.

Noting that the situation highlighted the need for regular recruitment of judges, the report stated that “In the High Courts, there is a vacancy of 347 judges against the sanctioned strength of 1,114 judges.” The Supreme Court is currently working at its full strength of 34 judges.

Prepared by Centre for Research & Planning of the Supreme Court of India, “STATE OF THE JUDICIARY: A Report on Infrastructure, Budgeting, Human Resources” was released last month.

It analysed the projected caseload and the number of judges needed to deal with it by applying different methods such as judge-population ratio and 26 taking into account factors such as Human Development Index (HDI), literacy rate, and the Demographic Method that affect the case filing trend.

Noting that the Supreme Court in 2002 in All India Judges Association v. Union of India endorsed the Law Commission’s recommendation and directed the Government to increase the judges’ strength from the then existing ratio of 13 judges per million population to 50 judges per million population in five years in a phased manner.

However, the report pointed out that “Currently, there are around 14.2 judges per million population in the country. If this demographic standard is adopted in 2023, India with its present population of around 1,392 million, would need a total of 69,600 judges as against its current sanctioned strength of 25,081 judges to have an optimum judge-to-population ratio and arrive at the target of 50 judges per million population.

Applying a different method based on an analysis of litigation and its nexus with the development indicators, the total number of judges required in 2040 for District Courts will be in the range of 40,000 to 80,000 judges, the report stated.

• In 1987, Law Commission recommended increasing judge-population ratio from 10 judges to 50 judges per million population

• In 2002, SC endorsed Law Commission’s recommendation and directed the Government to increase the judges’ strength to 50 judges per million population

• Despite that current judge-population ratio is around 14.2 judges per million population in India

• To achieve judge-population ratio of 50 judges per million population, India needs 69,600 judges

• SC is currently working at its full strength of 34 judges

• High courts have a vacancy of 347 judges against sanctioned strength of 1,114 judges

• In district courts, there is a shortage of 5,300 judges against sanctioned strength of 25,081 judges