India's Judge-Population Ratio Stands At 21: Law Minister Tells Lok Sabha

While the Law Commission had recommended a target of 50 judges per million people 36 years ago, India has 21 judges per million people, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.

To calculate the judge-population ratio, the Law Ministry used the Census 2011 population data (1,210.19 million) and the sanctioned strength of judges in the Supreme Court, 25 high courts and district and subordinate courts in 2023, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said in a written reply.

"As per the target recommended by Law Commission’s 1987 report recommending 50 judges per million population, presently the judge-population ratio in the country works out to be approximately 21 judges per million population," the minister said.

On the timeline to bridge the gap, the minister said the increase in the number of judges in the higher judiciary is a continuous and collaborative exercise between the Executive and the Judiciary.

In case of district and subordinate courts, the need for appropriate number of judges and the consequent requirement for filling up of the vacancies lies in the domain of respective high courts and the state governments, he noted.

"It can be seen that over a period of time, the strength of the Judiciary has seen a marked increase with the district judiciary’s working strength of 15,115 judicial officers, as against sanctioned strength of 19,518 in the year 2014, increasing to a working strength of 20,026, as against sanctioned strength of 25,423 in the year 2023," he said.