5 vacancies for judges in SC, 263 in high courts: Govt

Also, as many as 263 vacancies existed for judges in High Courts across the country, it said.

"Against the sanctioned strength of 31 judges, including the Chief Justice, of the Supreme Court, 26 judges have been in position as on May 15. There are five vacancies to be filled," Law Minister Salman Khurshid told Rajya Sabha in response to a query.

"In the High Courts, against the sanctioned strength of 895 judges, 632 were in position, leaving 263 vacancies to be filled," he added.

In reply to another question, Khurshid also gave details of the number of vacancies in various High Courts.

 

With 86 serving judges, there is a vacancy of 74 judges in the Allahabad High Court, while there is a vacancy of 28 judges in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Among others, there are 18 vacancies each in Andhra Pradesh and Bombay High Courts, while 13 vacancies are there in the Calcutta High court.

In reply to another question, Khurshid said the government does receive a variety of complaints against serving judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts from various quarters. These complaints were forwarded to the Supreme Court or the High Courts concerned.

"The central government does not maintain records of such complaints nor does it monitor the action taken on them," Khurshid said.

In response to another query, Khurshid said consensus between various state governments could not be achieved on the issue of formation of an All India Judicial Service.