"Where Is Justice Going To Come From?" Ex-Top Court Judge On Vacancies

Former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B Lokur on Tuesday said there were sufficient vacancies for judges but not enough judges actually in the posts, resulting in denial of justice.

"You may have enough vacancies, but you don't have enough judges. So where is justice going to come from?" he said during the release of the 2025 India Justice Report (IJR), which ranks states on the delivery of justice in the country.

Referring to the report, the former judge said that the vacancies across district courts in the country were around 33 per cent while in the high courts, the figures stood at around 21 per cent.

"The fact of the matter is that sometime back, the strength of high court judges was increased by 25 per cent, across the board, for no rhyme or reason. So Delhi High Court, for example, had a sanctioned spread of 48, which was increased to 60.

"During a conference held in February this year in Delhi, which was attended by (several) chief justices, I was informed that there is not a single high court where the number of judges was equal to the sanctioned strength before the 25 per cent increase. So, the Delhi High Court never had 48 judges," Justice (retd) Lokur said.

He said that the 1987 Law Commission recommended 50 judges per million population, which meant 40,000 judges according to the then population.

"Today, the population is 1.4 billion, and if you take 50 per million, you require 70,000 judges. Now, out of 40,000, which was mentioned in 1987, the IJR tells us that we have now in place 21,000 judges, while the number of sanctioned vacancies is 25,000, meaning even the sanctioned vacancies have not been filled up.

"Forget about what the Law Commission said 40 years ago. Today, the number (40,000) has gone up to 70,000; there is no way that you're going to get so many people," the former top court judge said.

Justice (retd) Lokur said another aspect was the staff required for each judges, which as per the department of justice, was around seven-eight people per judge, meaning that around five lakh staff had to be recruited.

"Where are you going to get all these people? So unless there is this will to do something about it, the problem is going to continue," he said.

He said the idea of Gram Nyayalayas, launched with much enthusiasm in 2009, was now defunct.

"It was an idea to tell people that, listen, you do not have to go to the district headquarters, you do not have to go to the high court, you do not have to go to the Supreme Court. Just go to your Gram Nyayalaya, and your legal problems will be taken care of.

"We are now 15 years down the line. There are hardly about 40 or 50 Gram Nyayalayas across the country, whereas there should have been thousands of them. Those that were set up with the fervour and enthusiasm, most of them are closed. Where are people going to get justice from? Not everybody can come to the Supreme Court when people find it difficult to even go to the district headquarters," the former top court judge said.

Justice (retd) Lokur said that to improve the system, laws had to be enforced and implemented and that there were a lot of data and information which could be analysed to find the gaps.

"But there has to be a will. A will to do it. And I am afraid that will is lacking," he said.

The former top court judge said that the scarcity of money was not a problem before the judiciary or the government.

"There is enough money going around, by the way, plenty of money going around, but not being spent. I know, as a matter of fact, in the 13th Finance Commission, Rs 5,000 crore was given (to the judiciary), of which Rs 980 crore was spent.

"The 14th Finance Commission doubled it to Rs 10,000 crore. Now, if the judiciary could not spend Rs 5,000 crore, how do you expect it to spend Rs 10,000 crore? So, money is available. The point that I want to make is money is available, but budgeting is a different ball game altogether, also utilisation of the fund. So we have to have that will to do something," he said.

The former judge said that children in conflict with the law and lodged in juvenile homes in Delhi were facing the same conditions or problems, if not worse, as compared to the incarcerated adult prisoners in Tihar.

"We have juvenile justice boards in bad shape. Children are not getting justice," Justice (retd) Lokur said.

He also said that tribunals had not been able to provide justice to people.

"Have a look at tribunals, which are also a part of justice, and we have so many tribunals. Are they giving justice? Central Administrative Tribunal, you have this Debt Recovery Tribunal, you have consumer forum, commercial tribunals, National Green Tribunal, whose orders are being flouted on a daily basis. Are they giving justice?" the ex-top court judge said.

Justice (retd) Lokur was elevated to the Supreme Court as a judge on June 4, 2012 and demitted office on December 30, 2018. In December last year, he was appointed as chairperson of the United Nations Internal Justice Council for a term ending on November 12, 2028. 

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