Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 6 (IANS): Just six people cleared an exam to fill 12 vacancies of district judges in Kerala, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy informed the state assembly Thursday, adding that the low pass rate was due to the tough rules and procedures adopted.

He was responding to a question raised by treasury bench member T.A. Ahamed Kabeer.

The notification for the Kerala State Higher Judicial Service Examination was issued Dec 20 2012 for filling 12 vacancies in the Rs.51,550-Rs.63,070 pay scale. One of the qualifications was that an applicant should be a practising advocate for at least seven years.

"Only six passed and of them, only one was from the Scheduled Caste. The Kerala high court is now seized of the issue that there is no one from the other backward communities," said Chandy.

"The high court will come out with a new notification later in the month to fill up the vacancies. The state government will ensure that there will be no delay on its part," said Chandy.

The shortage of judges in various courts has been raised time and again due to the mounting pendency of cases in the state.