77% Of HC Judges appointed since 2018 belong to upper Caste Category: Law Ministry

New Delhi: The Union law ministry’s data to Parliament on March 20 showed that 77 per cent of High Court judges, appointed since 2018, belonged to the upper castes, Scroll reported.

The ministry, responding to a query by Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Kumar Jha about the social diversity in higher judiciary, said that caste-wise data of the appointments was not available.

The appointment of Supreme Court and High Court judges take place under the articles of the Constitution ‘that do not provide for caste-based reservations’.

Since 2018, it was made mandatory for the recommendees for High Court judge positions to supply details of their social background.

Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said the data that the government provided was based on the inputs given by the recommendees.

The minister pointed out that 551 of the 715 judges appointed to the High Court since 2018 came from the general category, while 22 ( 3 per cent) of the 715 were from the Scheduled Castes.

There were 16 (2.2%) from Scheduled Tribes and 89 (12.4%) from the Other Backward Classes, he added.

When asked if Centre sought the apex court to finalise the memorandum of procedure to include social diversity in judicial appointments, the ministry claimed that it is vested in the chief justices of the Supreme Court and the High Courts to initiate ‘proposals’.

The ministry reportedly said: ‘However, the government 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.’