405 Judge Posts Lying Vacant In High Courts In Country; Odisha Has 12 Vacancies

Bhubaneswar: Out of total posts of judges in the high courts across the country, 405 including 12 in Odisha were vacant till March 16, said Union Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju on Thursday.

As per the statement released by the Ministry of Law and Justice, against the total strength of 1104 judges in 25 high courts in the country, 699 judges are in position, leaving 405 posts vacant. At present, 175 proposals are at various stages of processing between the Government and the Supreme Court Collegium to fill up the vacant posts, the minister said in the Rajya Sabha.

The Minister further said 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 before the occurrence of vacancies.

The Allahabad High Court has maximum vacancy of 67 judges against the sanctioned strength of 160 posts. It is followed by Mumbai and Punjab & Haryana high courts. While Bombay HC has 36 vacant posts against strength of 94 judges, Punjab & Haryana HC has 36 vacancies against 85 posts.

The Orissa High Court, which has the sanctioned strength of 33 judges, including 24 permanent and nine additional, has 21 judges with 12 positions lying vacant.