As on 16.03.2022, against the sanctioned strength of 1104 Judges in the various High Courts, 699 Judges are in position, leaving 405 vacanciesof Judges to be filled. A statement showing the sanctioned strength, working strength and vacancies of Judges in the High Courts is placed as Annexure.
Filling up of vacancies in the High Courts is a continuous, integrated and collaborative process between the Executive and the Judiciary. It requires consultation and approval from various Constitutional Authorities both at the State and Centre level. While every effort is made to fill up the existing vacancies expeditiously, vacancies of Judges in High Courts do keep on arising on account of retirement, resignation or elevation of Judges and also due to increase in the strength of Judges.
As per the existing Memorandum of Procedure for appointment of Judges of High Courts, the Chief Justice of the High Court is required to initiate the proposal for filling up of vacancies of a Judge in a High Court six months prior to the occurrence of vacancies. Government appoints only those persons as Judges of High Courts who are recommended by Supreme Court Collegium (SCC). Against the vacancy of 405 Judges, at present, 175 proposals are at various stages of processing between the Government and the Supreme Court Collegium. Further recommendations from High Court Collegiums are yet to be received in respect of 230 vacancies in High Courts.
This information was given by Shri Kiren Rijiju Union Minister, Minister of Law and Justice, in Rajya Sabha today.
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Annexure
Statement showing Sanctioned strength, Working Strength and Vacancies of Judgesin the High Courts.
(As on 16.03.2022)
| Sanctioned strength | Working strength | Vacancies | ||||||||
| High Court | Pmt. | Addl | Total | Pmt. | Addl | Total | Pmt. | Addl | Total | |
| 1 | Allahabad | 120 | 40 | 160 | 74 | 19 | 93 | 46 | 21 | 67 |
| 2 | Andhra Pradesh | 28 | 9 | 37 | 26 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 9 | 11 |
| 3 | Bombay | 71 | 23 | 94 | 51 | 7 | 58 | 20 | 16 | 36 |
| 4 | Calcutta | 54 | 18 | 72 | 31 | 8 | 39 | 23 | 10 | 33 |
| 5 | Chhattisgarh | 17 | 5 | 22 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| 6 | Delhi | 45 | 15 | 60 | 33 | 0 | 33 | 12 | 15 | 27 |
| 7 | Gauhati | 18 | 6 | 24 | 17 | 6 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Gujarat | 39 | 13 | 52 | 32 | 0 | 32 | 7 | 13 | 20 |
| 9 | Himachal Pradesh | 10 | 3 | 13 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 10 | J & K and Ladakh | 13 | 4 | 17 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 11 | Jharkhand | 19 | 6 | 25 | 19 | 1 | 20 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| 12 | Karnataka | 47 | 15 | 62 | 39 | 6 | 45 | 8 | 9 | 17 |
| 13 | Kerala | 35 | 12 | 47 | 27 | 12 | 39 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 14 | Madhya Pradesh | 40 | 13 | 53 | 35 | 0 | 35 | 5 | 13 | 18 |
| 15 | Madras | 56 | 19 | 75 | 44 | 15 | 59 | 12 | 4 | 16 |
| 16 | Manipur | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Meghalaya | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 18 | Orissa | 24 | 9 | 33 | 21 | 0 | 21 | 3 | 9 | 12 |
| 19 | Patna | 40 | 13 | 53 | 25 | 0 | 25 | 15 | 13 | 28 |
| 20 | Punjab& Haryana | 64 | 21 | 85 | 43 | 6 | 49 | 21 | 15 | 36 |
| 21 | Rajasthan | 38 | 12 | 50 | 26 | 0 | 26 | 12 | 12 | 24 |
| 22 | Sikkim | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Telangana | 32 | 10 | 42 | 19 | 0 | 19 | 13 | 10 | 23 |
| 24 | Tripura | 4 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | -1 | 1 | 0 |
| 25 | Uttarakhand | 9 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Total | 833 | 271 | 1104 | 614 | 85 | 699 | 219 | 186 | 405 | |
