18 Collegium recommendations sent back by Central government; 64 still being processed: Law Minister Kiren Rijiju

The Central government has opposed 18 recommendations made by the Supreme Court Collegium for judgeship and has returned those files to the Collegium, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju informed Rajya Sabha on Thursday..Further, 64 recommendations made by the Collegium are pending before the government, Law Minister further informed.The Law Minister was replying to two questions put by CPI(M) leader John Brittas and Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha.The first question sought to know the total number of collegium proposals returned by the government on its own to the Supreme Court Collegium during the last three years. .Of the 18 sent back, 6 were reiterated by the Collegium. In 7 of them, further inputs were sought from High Court Collegiums while 5 were remitted to the High Courts. "As on 31.01.2023 there are total 18 proposals on which reconsideration of SCC has been sought. SCC decided to reiterate 06 cases, in 07 cases SCC has desired updated inputs from the High Court Collegiums, and 05 cases have been decided to be remitted by the SCC to the High Courts", the reply stated. .Additionally, in response to a question regarding the recommendations wherein approval is still pending from the government, the law minister disclosed that 64 recommendations were under various stages of processing..The response elaborated that against a sanctioned strength of 1,108 judges in various High Courts, there are currently 775 judges while 333 posts are vacant. Against these vacancies, 142 proposals recommended by the High Court Collegiums are at various stages of processing with the government.Further, 67 are in the process of being sent to the Supreme Court Collegium and 11 have been deferred by the Supreme Court Collegium. .The reply also discussed data on appointment of judges. From 2019 to January 2023, 22 judges have been appointed to the Supreme Court and 446 judges have been appointed to various High Courts."Government is committed to filling up the post of judges in the higher judiciary expeditiously," the reply said. .[Read both replies]