Parliament Question: Regional benches of Supreme Court

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 763 ANSWERED ON 05/02/2026 REGIONAL BENCHES OF SUPREME COURT

763. SHRI P. WILSON:

Will the Minister of Law and Justice be pleased to state:

(a) the details of action taken on feasibility study for establishing regional benches of Supreme Court;

(b) the steps taken by Government to ensure social diversity and social representation in appointment of judges in higher judiciary and number of SC, ST, OBC, general, women and minority judges appointed in HCs and SC since 2021; and

(c) the category-wise composition of judges in the Supreme Court and High Courts as on

01.02.2026, and the vacancies of judges in each High Court, as on date? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE; AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL)

(a) to (c): Article 130 of the Constitution of India provides that the Supreme Court shall sit in Delhi or in such other place or places as the Chief Justice of India may, with the approval of the President, from time to time, appoint.

The Eleventh Law Commission in its 125th Report titled “The Supreme Court – A Fresh Look”, submitted in 1988, reiterated the recommendations made by Tenth Law Commission in its 95th Report for splitting the Supreme Court into two namely (i) Constitutional Court at Delhi and (ii) Court of appeal or Federal Court sitting in North, South, East, West and Central India. The Eighteenth Law Commission in its 229th Report had also suggested that a Constitutional Bench be set up at Delhi and four Cassation Benches be set up in the Northern region at Delhi, Southern region at Chennai/Hyderabad, Eastern region at Kolkata and Western region at Mumbai.

1The matter was referred to the Chief Justice of India, who has informed that after consideration of the matter, the Full Court in its meeting held on 18th February, 2010, found no justification for setting up of benches of the Supreme Court outside Delhi.

In Writ Petition WP(C) No. 36/2016 on establishment of National Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court vide its judgment dated 13.07.2016 deemed it proper to refer the aforementioned issue to Constitutional Bench for authoritative pronouncement. The matter is sub-judice in the Supreme Court.

Appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court and High Courts is made under Articles 124, 217 and 224 of the Constitution of India, which do not provide for reservation for any caste or class of persons. Therefore, category-wise data pertaining to representation of any caste or class of persons among the Judges of Supreme Court and the High Courts is not centrally available. Since 2018, the recomsmendees for the post of High Court Judges are required to provide details regarding their social background in the prescribed format (prepared in consultation with the Supreme Court). As per the information provided by the recommendees, out of 593 Judges appointed from 01.01.2021 till 30.01.2026, 26 belong to SC category, 14 belong to ST category, 80 belong to OBC category and 37 belong to the minority category. 96 women were appointed as Judges in various High Courts during the same period.

As per the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP), the responsibility for initiation of proposals for appointment of Judges in the Supreme Court vests with the Chief Justice of India, while the responsibility for initiation of proposals for appointment of Judges in High Courts vests with the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court. However, the Government is committed to enhancing social diversity in 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 the appointment of Judges in High Courts. Only those persons who are recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium, are appointed as Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts.

The details regarding sanctioned strength, working strength and vacancies of Judges in the High Courts, as on 30.01.2026, is at Annexure. *** 2ANNEXURE Sanctioned strength, Working strength, Vacancies of Judges in the High Courts (As on

30.01.2026) Sl. No. High Court(s) Sanctioned Strength Working Strength Vacancies 1 Allahabad 160 110 50 2 Andhra Pradesh 37 32 5 3 Bombay 94 80 14 4 Calcutta 72 43 29 5 Chhattisgarh 22 15 7 6 Delhi 60 44 16 7 Gauhati 30 25 5 8 Gujarat 52 35 17 9 Himachal Pradesh 17 12 5 10 J & K and Ladakh 25 14 11 11 Jharkhand 25 14 11 12 Karnataka 62 46 16 13 Kerala 47 40 7 14 Madhya Pradesh 53 42 11 15 Madras 75 53 22 16 Manipur 5 3 2 17 Meghalaya 4 4 0 18 Orissa 33 19 14 19 Patna 53 38 15 Punjab & 85 61 20 Haryana 24 21 Rajasthan 50 39 11 22 Sikkim 3 3 0 23 Telangana 42 28 14 24 Tripura 5 4 1 25 Uttarakhand 11 10 1 Total 1122 814 308 3