Chief Justices of the High Courts are required to initiate the proposal to fill up a vacancy of a High Court judge six months prior to the occurrence of vacancy. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
The Union government said 219 proposals for the appointment of High Court judges across the country are in various stages of processing.
Law Minister Arjun Meghwal, responding to questions raised by Rajya Sabha Member Haris Beeran, said the Supreme Court Collegium (SCC), as on July 19, has processed 82 of the 90 proposals sent to it by the government for advice.
“One hundred and twenty-nine fresh proposals received recently are being processed for seeking the advice of the SCC,” the reply said.
High Courts have still not sent recommendations on the remaining 138 vacancies. Against the total sanctioned strength of 1,114 judges in various High Courts, 757 are working and 357 are lying vacant.
Chief Justices of the High Courts are required to initiate the proposal to fill up a vacancy of a High Court judge six months prior to the occurrence of vacancy.
“However, this timeline is often not adhered to by the High Courts,” the government complained.
Names recommended by the High Court Collegium are sent with the views of the government to the SCC for advice. Recommendation of the SCC is mandatory for appointment.
“Appointment of Judges in the High Courts is a continuous, integrated and collaborative process, involving approval from various constitutional authorities. The government is committed to expeditious processing of appointment of judges to the constitutional courts,” the government assured.
The process of finalising a revised Memorandum of Procedure for Appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court and High Courts to bring in more transparency and accountability in the appointment process has not seen the light of the day. The decision to reexamine the Memorandum of Procedure was taken after the Supreme Court struck down the National Judicial Appointments Commission law in 2015. The government claims it is waiting for the Collegium’s inputs on a draft while the latter maintained that it has already given its final views about the draft in March 2017, and has nothing more to add.
Meanwhile, the government said it is considering a proposal for the transfer of five High Court judges.
“No timeline has been prescribed in the MoP for transfer of judges from one High Court to another,” it explained.
