New Delhi, Jul 26 (IANS): The Centre has informed Parliament that there is no vacancy in the Supreme Court and is functioning at its full strength of 34 judges.

Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal has said in the Rajya Sabha that against the sanctioned strength of 1,114 judges in various High Courts, 757 judges are working and 357 posts are vacant.

Responding to a question relating to vacancies in constitutional courts, the Minister said, “As of 19.07.2024, 219 proposals for appointment of Judges received from various High Court Collegiums are at various stages of processing. Out of these 219 proposals, 90 proposals were sent to the Supreme Court Collegium (SCC) for seeking advice against which the SCC has provided advice on 82 proposals which are at various stages of processing.129 fresh proposals received recently are being processed for seeking the advice of the SCC.”

The recommendations are yet to be received from High Court Collegiums in respect of the remaining 138 vacancies, he added.

As per the Second Judge case and Third Judge case, the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) vests initiation of the proposal for the appointment of judges in the High Courts with the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court. All the names recommended by the High Court Collegium are sent with the views of the government to the Supreme Court Collegium (SCC) for advice. Only those persons are appointed as judges of High Courts, who are recommended by SCC.

“The Chief Justice of the High Court is required to initiate the proposal to fill up the vacancy of a High Court judge six months before the occurrence of vacancy. However, this timeline is often not adhered to by the High Courts,” the Union Minister said, adding that the government is committed to expeditious processing of appointment of judges to the Constitutional Courts.