Despite stand-off between Govt and judiciary, record 165 judges appointed in high courts in 2022

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, December 31

Despite a stand-off between the Government and the Judiciary, 165 judges were appointed to various high courts in 2022 --  the highest in a calendar year.

As on November 1, 2022, there were a total of 773 judges (637 Permanent Judges and 136 Additional Judges) against a sanctioned strength of 1108 judges (836 Permanent Judges and 272 Additional Judges), leaving 335 posts of judges in various high courts (199 Permanent Judges and 136 Additional Judges) vacant.

According to official figures of appointments and transfers of judges in the year gone by, eight Chief Justices were appointed to the high courts of Gauhati, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, Karnataka, Madras, Telangana, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand.

Two Chief Justices were transferred from one high court to another while six judges of high courts were transferred from one high court to another.

The maximum number of judges were appointed to the Punjab and Haryana High Court (21), followed by the Bombay High Court (19), Delhi high Court (17), Telangana High Court (17), Calcutta high Court (16), Andhra Pradesh High Court (14), Allahabad High Court (13) and  Patna High Court (11).

While six judges each were appointed to Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa the high courts, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh and Madras high courts got four judges each, Chhattisgarh High Court (three), Gauhati High Court, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan high courts (two each), Jharkhand and Kerala high courts (one each).

Besides these fresh appointments, 38 Additional Judges were made permanent in various High Courts. The Allahabad High Court got 10 Additional Judges while the Madras high Court got nine judges, followed by Calcutta High Court (six judges, Bombay and Kerala high courts (four judges each), followed by Karnataka high court (three judges), Himachal Pradesh and Manipur high courts (one judge each).

Tenure of 02 Additional Judges – one each in the Bombay High Court and the Madras High Court was extended.

Expressing “strong reservations” about 20 names recommended for appointment of high court judges, including that of advocate Saurabh Kirpal – a declared gay, the Government sent back the files to the Collegium for reconsideration. Out of the 20 cases, 11 were fresh cases while nine were reiterations made by the Collegium.

The Supreme Court has been complaining that due to the delay in clearing the names recommended, several potential judges were withdrawing their consent.

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