Read Time: 05 minutes

The Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana today thrusted upon the issue of vacancies in the Indian Judiciary, stating that nearly 100 proposals from various High Courts for elevation of judges, are yet to be transmitted to Supreme Court by Government.

 “As of today, out of 1104 sanctioned posts of High Court Judges, there are 388 vacancies," he added.

In this light, the CJI also said the Collegium has made 180 recommendations so far, for appointments in High Courts, out of which, 126 appointments were made by the government and that 54 proposals are awaiting approval by the government. 

The other dignitaries of the event included M.K. Stalin, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Justices Ramasubramanian and MM Sundaresh judges of Supreme Court and Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari, Chief Justice of Madras High Court.

The CJI said that it has been "his endeavour to fill judicial vacancies from day One".

He further said that his first communication to the Chief Justices of the High Court was to request them to expedite the process of recommending names for elevation.

“Due to collective efforts at all levels, we could make considerable progress in the filling up of the judicial vacancies"
- CJI NV Ramana

The CJI said, “I am hoping that the High Courts will expedite the process of sending the proposals to fill the remaining 212 vacancies.”

The Chief Justice has repeatedly brought up the issue of judicial vacancies from inside the court and outside of it.

Last week, while speaking at the Telangana judicial officer’s conference, the CJI said that filling up judicial vacancies is an integral part of improving access to justice and all efforts are being made to fill all posts at all levels and that, the functioning of judicial officers is affected due to a "large number of judicial vacancies".

Last month, the Chief Justice of India slammed the Central Government over the issue of vacant positions at various tribunals while asking the Attorney General KK Venugopal whether the central government is "serious enough" to make appointments at various Tribunals.

 

At another event, the CJI Ramana had remarked, "Not only do we need to fill the existing vacancies on an urgent basis, but there is also a need to increase the number of judges. With better service conditions we may be able to attract more and more talents into our fold."