No concrete response by Law Ministry on Parliament questions about pending Collegium recommendations

In response to a recent Parliament question posed in the Rajya Sabha, the Central government was evasive on the number of Supreme Collegium recommendations which are yet to be processed.

Two Members of Parliament (MPs) belonging to the Congress party - Vivek K Tankha and Mallikarjun Kharge - raised questions regarding judicial appointments over the past five years, including names approved by the Collegium but rejected or stalled by the Centre, and reasons for the delays.

However, instead of directly responding to the questions raised, both MPs received only general data related to the sanctioned strength, working strength, vacancies and pending recommendations in various High Courts across the country.

The specific questions asked by MPs were:

- the total number of recommendations made by the Supreme Court Collegium for appointments of Judges to the High Courts and the Supreme Court in the last five years, year-wise;

- the number of recommendations accepted, rejected and those still pending with Government;

- the details of pending recommendations made by the Supreme Court Collegium regarding appointment of judges to various High Courts along with the duration and reasons for such pendency.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law & Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal provided a common response as follows:

"178 proposals for appointment of High Court judges are at various stages of processing between the Government and the Supreme Court Collegium. The recommendations against 193 vacancies are yet to be received from the High Court Collegiums."

Another question raised by Kharge sought to know whether the Ministry had prescribed any timeline for processing and clearing the pending recommendations. The Ministry responded that the time required to fill vacancies of judges in the High Courts cannot be specified.

"Appointment of Judges in the higher judiciary is a continuous, integrated and collaborative process between the executive and the judiciary. It requires consultation and approval from various Constitutional Authorities both at State and Central level," the Ministry said.

Tankha also enquired whether the government had returned any names recommended by the Collegium multiple times and, if so, details of such instances.

The Ministry didn't provide information pertaining to such instances but informed that from January 1, 2020 till July 18, 2025, 35 judges have been appointed to the Supreme Court and 554 Judges have been appointed to various High Courts.

"Further, 349 names have been remitted to the High Courts during the same period," it informed.

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