NEW DELHI: Upper castes continue to dominate appointment of high court judges with 492 (76%) of 650 judges appointed to different HCs since 2018, from this category, the law ministry informed the Rajya Sabha.
The data was made available by different high court collegiums during recommendations of advocates and judicial officers for judgeship of HCs.
Law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, in a written response to a question in Rajya Sabha, said on Thursday that there is no provision for reservation in appointment of judges of the Supreme Court and HCs.
Meghwal said though there is no data maintained centrally pertaining to representation of OBCs, SCs, STs and minorities among the judges of HCs, information on their social background was provided by the recommendees when they were considered for elevation.
“Out of 650 High Court Judges appointed since 2018, till 6th December, 492 judges belong to the general category, 20 judges belong to the SC, 12 belong to the ST, 77 Judges from OBC category, 36 judges belong to minorities. For the remaining 13 judges, there was no information available,” the minister said.
For the SC judges, the government said it had no information available on their caste category. As on 8th December, the apex court had full strength with 34 judges, while the HCs had 790 judges against a sanctioned strength of 1,114.
The data was made available by different high court collegiums during recommendations of advocates and judicial officers for judgeship of HCs.
Law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, in a written response to a question in Rajya Sabha, said on Thursday that there is no provision for reservation in appointment of judges of the Supreme Court and HCs.
Meghwal said though there is no data maintained centrally pertaining to representation of OBCs, SCs, STs and minorities among the judges of HCs, information on their social background was provided by the recommendees when they were considered for elevation.
“Out of 650 High Court Judges appointed since 2018, till 6th December, 492 judges belong to the general category, 20 judges belong to the SC, 12 belong to the ST, 77 Judges from OBC category, 36 judges belong to minorities. For the remaining 13 judges, there was no information available,” the minister said.
For the SC judges, the government said it had no information available on their caste category. As on 8th December, the apex court had full strength with 34 judges, while the HCs had 790 judges against a sanctioned strength of 1,114.
As per the memorandum of procedure, guiding appointment of judges for the constitutional courts, initiation of proposal for appointment of judges in the HCs vests with the Chief Justice of the concerned HC.
Chief justices of the HCs are required to initiate the proposal to fill the vacancy of a HC judge six months prior to the occurrence of vacancy. “The government has been requesting the CJs that while sending proposals for appointment of judges, due consideration be given to suitable candidates belonging to SC/ST, OBCs, minorities and women to ensure social diversity in the appointment of judges,” the law minister said.
