India's Judge-Population Ratio Stands at 21 Judges for Every 10 Lakh People: Government Report
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New Delhi, Dec 12 (NationPress) The judge-population ratio in India is estimated to be around 21 judges for every 10 lakh individuals, as per the Census 2011 statistics, which was disclosed to Parliament on Thursday.
The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice, Arjun Ram Meghwal, informed the Rajya Sabha in a written statement that there are currently 368 vacancies in High Courts, with the highest number of vacancies, 79, occurring in the Allahabad High Court.
As of December 9, 2024, there are 5,262 vacancies for judicial officers in District and Subordinate courts, with Uttar Pradesh accounting for the largest share at 996 vacancies, he noted.
The MoS mentioned that the responsibility for determining the requisite number of judges and addressing the resulting vacancies in District and Subordinate courts falls within the jurisdiction of the respective High Courts and state governments.
The sanctioned strength of the District Judiciary has seen an increase from 19,518 judicial officers in 2014 to 25,741 judicial officers as of December 9, 2024, according to MoS Meghwal's response to a query from Haris Beeran of the Indian Union Muslim League.
“Calculating based on the population from Census 2011, which was 1210.19 million, and the sanctioned strength of judges in the Supreme Court, High Courts, and District and Subordinate Courts as of 2024, the judge-population ratio in the nation is about 21 judges per million people,” stated the MoS.
He also noted that due to ongoing efforts, there has been a significant rise in the number of judges, with the sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court judges increasing from 31 in 2014 to 34 judges (including the Chief Justice of India).
As of December 9, 2024, the sanctioned strength, working strength, and vacancies of judges in the Supreme Court are 34, 33, and 1, respectively, as stated by the MoS.
For High Courts, the sanctioned strength has risen from 906 in 2014 to 1,122 as of December 9, 2024, with a total of 216 new posts for High Court judges created since 2014, he added.
