There have been as many as 1,631 complaints about the functioning of the judiciary, including judicial corruption, and such complaints have been forwarded to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and Chief Justices of the concerned high courts following an “in-house” mechanism, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju told the Lok Sabha on Friday.
Answering separate queries, Mr. Rijiju also informed the House that the government had appointed 27 women judges out of the 39 recommended by the Supreme Court collegium and that there is no proposal to increase the number of of judges of the top court from its current sanctioned strength of 34.
Responding to a written question from DMK’s S Gnanathiraviam and BSP’s Malook Nagar on whether or not there has been increase in instances of judicial corruption, Mr Rijiju said, “During last 5 years (from 01.01.2017 to 31.12.2021), 1,631 complaints were received in the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) on the functioning of the judiciary including judicial corruption and [these were] forwarded to the CJI/Chief Justice of High Courts, respectively, as per the procedure established under “in-house mechanism”.
No more SC judges
Asked if there was any proposal to increase the bench strength of India’s top court, Mr Rijiju’s written response said, “The sanctioned strength of Supreme Court of India has been increased from 30 to 33 (excluding the Chief Justice of India) with effect from August 9, 2019. Thereafter, the Government has not received any further proposal for increase in the strength of Supreme Court judges”.
In response to a separate question on women’s representation, the Law Minister said under the present system the onus to provide social diversity and representation to all sections of the society, including Scheduled Castes, Schedued Tribes, Women and Minorities, primarily falls on the judiciary.
“Government cannot appoint any person as a High Court Judge who is not recommended by the High Court Collegium/Supreme Court Collegium,”Mr Rijiju said in his written rely.
“However, the Government remains committed to social diversity in the appointment of Judges in the Higher Judiciary and has been requesting the Chief Justices of High Courts that while sending proposals for appointment of Judges, due consideration be given to suitable candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, Minorities and Women to ensure social diversity in appointment of Judges in High Courts,” he added.
Responding to another question on lower enrollment of women in electoral rolls, the Minister said that as per the Election Commission data, of the total electors of 95.24 crore, female voters account for 48.5% or 46.05 crore voters.
