New Delhi, Feb 13: There are 367 vacancies of judges in various High Courts and a shortage of 5,320 Judicial Officers in the district and subordinated judiciary in different states, the Parliament was informed on Thursday. Minister of State for Law and Justice, Arjun Ram Meghwal told Lok Sabha that while every effort is made to fill the existing vacancies expeditiously, vacancies of Judges in High Courts keep on arising on account of retirement, resignation or elevation of Judges and increase in their sanctioned strength.
He said, “Since May 2014, the Government has increased the sanctioned strength of High Court Judges from 906 to 1,122 (as on date). Under the collaborative effort between the Government and the Judiciary, 1,013 Judges have been appointed in various High Courts since 2014 till February 10, 2025.”
As per the data provided by Meghwal in a reply in Lok Sabha, there are two vacancies of Judges in the Supreme Court against a sanctioned strength of 34. He said the maximum number of 81 vacancies exist in Allahabad High Court, followed by Punjab and Haryana High Court with 34, Calcutta High Court 29, Bombay High Court 26, Delhi High Court 22 and Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat High Courts with 20 each.
The total sanctioned strength of High Court judges stands at 1,114, the MoS said. The highest judicial vacancies in lower courts exist in Uttar Pradesh at 1,002. The state has a sanctioned strength of 3,700 Judicial Officers in subordinate courts. The second-highest judicial vacancies in lower courts exist in Gujarat at 535, followed by Bihar with 483, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan with 346 each and Madhya Pradesh 336.
The National Capital of Delhi has 94 vacancies. Replying to another question on Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs), the MoS said as per the inputs received from the High Courts, as on December 31, 2024 as many as 747 FTSCs, including 406 exclusive POCSO Courts (e-POCSO), are functional in 30 States/UTs.
“These courts have disposed of around 3,00,000 rape and POCSO Act cases as of December 31, 2024,” he said. Meghwal said the centrally-sponsored scheme for the establishment of FTSCs, including exclusive POCSO Courts for expeditious disposal of rape and POCSO Act cases, has been extended till March 31, 2026, targeting the establishment of 790 courts.
IANS