21 Of 661 High Court Judges Appointed Since 2018 Belong To Scheduled Caste: Centre

Twenty-one of the 661 high court judges appointed since 2018 belong to the Scheduled Caste (SC) category and 12 to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.

In a written reply, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal also said the salary, pension and allowances of Supreme Court and high court judges were last revised with effect from January 1, 2016, and at present, there is no proposal for enhancing their salaries.

Out of the 661 high court judges appointed from 2018 to July 22 this year, 21 belong to the SC category, 12 to the ST category, 78 to the OBC category and 499 to the general category.

Meghwal noted that the provisions of the Constitution under which the judges are appointed do not provide for reservation for any caste or class of persons.

“However, since 2018, the recommendees for the post of high court judges are required to provide details regarding their social background in the prescribed format prepared in consultation with the Supreme Court,” he said.

Responding to a separate question, the minister said since May 2014, 62 judges of the supreme court have been appointed.

The sanctioned strength of high court judges has increased from 906 in 2014 to 1,114. A total of 976 high court judges have been appointed since 2014, Meghwal said.

The district judiciary’s sanctioned strength has increased from 19,518 judicial officers in 2014 to 25,523 as on date, he said.