Since November 2022, 221 names have been recommended for High Court judgeships across India. Of these, 29 appointments are still pending with the Central government, raising concerns over delays in judicial functioning.
In an unprecedented move towards greater transparency, the Supreme Court has disclosed the identities of judges recommended by the collegium, their connections to current or former judges of high courts or the Supreme Court, and the number of resolutions ratified by the government.
Data released by the Supreme Court, covering the period from November 9, 2022, to November 10, 2024 when former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud presided, reveals that of the 303 candidates approved by the Supreme Court collegium for appointment as high court judges, 170 have received approval from the central government.
The data indicates that 17 names are still awaiting government approval.
Out of the 303 recommended individuals, 12 were related to former or retired judges of the high court or the Supreme Court, and one candidate with connections to a retired or serving member of the high court or the Supreme Court was not approved by the Centre.
Seven of the 303 candidates belonged to the Scheduled Caste category, five to the Scheduled Tribe community, 21 to Other Backward Classes, seven to Backward Classes, 28 were women, and 23 were from minority communities.
Similarly, data from November 11, 2024, to May 5, 2025, under the leadership of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, shows that the apex court collegium recommended a total of 103 candidates for judgeships in high courts, of which 51 names have been approved.
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The data states that 12 names are still pending approval from the Union government, and only two candidates have connections to retired or sitting judges of the Supreme Court or the high court.
Of the 103 candidates, 11 are from Other Backward Classes, one from the Scheduled Caste, two from the Scheduled Tribe, eight from minority communities, and six are women.
Of the 221 names approved by the Collegium for judgeships in the high courts from November 9, 2022, to May 5, 2025, 29 candidates are awaiting approval from the Centre.
Only 14 of the 221 candidates were related to retired or serving members of the high court or the Supreme Court.
In addition to this data, the top court has also made the complete process of appointments to the high courts and the Supreme Court available on its website for public knowledge and awareness.
This includes the role assigned to the High Court Collegium, the role of and inputs received from the state governments, the Union of India, and consideration by the Supreme Court Collegium.
The statement issued by the Supreme Court on Monday night has said,
“The proposals approved by the Supreme Court Collegium for appointments as high court judges during the period from November 9, 2022 to May 5, 2025, including the names, high court, source — whether from service or Bar, date of recommendation by the Supreme Court Collegium, date of notification by the Department of Justice, date of appointment, special category (SC/ST/OBC/Minority/Woman) and whether the candidate is related to any sitting or retired High Court/Supreme Court judge, have also been uploaded on the Supreme Court website,”
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