Amid stand-off over judicial appointments, pendency increasing

Satya Prakash

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New Delhi, December 4

As the government and the judiciary indulged in a slugfest over appointments to the higher judiciary, seven posts of judges in the Supreme Court and 336 in various high courts remained vacant even as pendency of cases witnessed a phenomenal increase.

20 to 30-year backlog

46.13 lakh cases pending in 25 high courts

34.53 lakh cases (74.87%) pending for more than a year

1.38 lakh cases pending for 20 to 30 years

Source: National Judicial Data Grid

As on December 4, 2022, seven out of the total 34 posts of judges were vacant in the Supreme Court where 69,598 cases awaited adjudication. While the government was sitting over the Collegium’s recommendation to elevate Bombay High Court chief Justice Dipankar Datta as a judge of the Supreme Court, there were no recommendations made for the rest of the six vacancies in the top court.

Similarly, judicial vacancies in 25 high courts (as on October 1, 2022) were reported to be 336 against the sanctioned strength of 1,108 judges.

According to data (last updated on July 4, 2022) displayed on National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), 46,13,383 cases were pending in 25 high courts. The NJDG data showed that 34,53,972 cases (74.87%) pending in high courts were more than one year old while 1,38,094 cases were 20 to 30 years old and 51.925 cases more than 30 years old.

Expressing anguish over the Centre not clearing the Collegium’s recommendations for judicial appointments, the Supreme Court had last month requested Attorney General R Venkataramani to ensure the government followed the law and expedited the process to fill judicial vacancies.

Earlier, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju had said, “Never say the government is sitting on files. Don’t send files to the government then… you (Collegium) appoint yourself, you run the show.”

Taking exception to the Law Minister’s statement, a Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul had said, “Names are not being cleared. How can the system work? …It appears the government is unhappy that the NJAC (National Judicial Appointments Commission Act) did not pass constitutional muster… Can that be the reason not to clear the names for so long?”

Supreme Court Bar Association president and senior advocate Vikas Singh said the issue needed to be considered afresh.