Data:
According to the Ministry of Law, there are over 5,600 judicial vacancies across all levels of the judiciary-
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- Supreme Court: 2 vacancies
- High Courts: 364 vacancies
- District Courts: 5,245 vacancies
Reasons:
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- Frequent Vacancies due to retirement, resignations, promotions, demise of judges, and expansion of court benches.
- Time consuming appointment (Collegium) process
- Delays in lower court appointments which require multiple approvals
- Limited financial incentives and excessive caseloads discourage skilled lawyers from joining judiciary.
Impact:
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- High pendency of cases
- Increased work load on existing judges
- Low judge-to-population ratio
Way forward
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- Revisiting the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC)
- Establishing the All India Judicial Service (AIJS)
- Streamlining the appointment process
