Law ministry to Parliament: 77% of high court judges appointed since 2018 from upper castes

This marks a slight increase in diversity from January 2023, when the Indian Express reported that the Ministry of Law and Justice informed a Parliament Standing Committee that 79 per cent of all high court Judges appointed since 2018 (till December 19, 2022) were from upper castes.

The response states that the “responsibility for initiation of proposals for appointment of Judges” vests with the Chief Justice of India (for Supreme Court appointments) and high court chief justices. It further places the onus for maintaining diversity on the Supreme Court, stating, “Only those persons who are recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium, are appointed as Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts.”

On the Centre’s part, Meghwal has stated that it has been requesting the chief justices of high courts to give “due consideration…to suitable candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, Minorities and Women” when sending proposals for appointment.

In a reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha in 2022, former Union law minister Kiren Rijeju made similar remarks, stating, “We have 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.”

When the Supreme Court established the Collegium system for judge appointments in what is popularly known as the Second Judges case (1993), the court considered “proper representation of all sections of the people from all parts of the country” as one of the factors that must be considered to decide it a candidate is suitable for appointment.

The judgment also notes that, at the time, there were only 13 high court judges from SCs and seven from STs, collectively amounting to only 4 per cent, and only 3 per cent of judges were women. It then states, “However, unpalatable the above scenario may be to some, it is nevertheless a ground reality. Our democratic polity is not only for any self-perpetuating oligarchy but is for all people of our country. If the vulnerable section of the people are completely neglected, we cannot claim to have achieved real participatory democracy.”