Judiciary
Last month, The Print reported that 1 in every 3 of India’s 687 sitting permanent high court judges is either related to a sitting or former judge, or comes from a family of lawyers. https://theprint.in/judiciary/in-a-first-sc-releases-list-disclosing-proposed-hc-judges-ties-to-sitting-former-judges/2616685/
The Supreme Court has now released a list of 221 candidates approved by the Supreme Court collegium for appointments as high court judges between 9 November 2022 to 5 May 2025.
Of these, 14 candidates are related to sitting or former judges of the Supreme Court or the high courts. It clarifies that a candidate is treated to be related to a former or sitting judge is or was their father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, sister, brother, sister-in-law, or brother-in-law.
The list also provides a breakdown of candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), or Other Backward Classes (OBC) categories. Of the 221 candidates, 8 belong to the SC category, 7 to ST category, 32 to OBC category, 7 to most backward classes/backward classes category, and 31 to minorities.
The Supreme Court has published the asset declarations of its serving judges and detailed information about judicial appointments on its official website – a significant move toward greater transparency. https://thewire.in/law/supreme-court-publishes-asset-declarations-of-judges-detailed-info-about-judicial-appointments
This initiative follows a Full Court decision made on April 1, 2025. According to legal news portal Bar and Bench, the decision came amid recent judicial accountability controversies – particularly after burnt currency notes were reportedly discovered at Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma’s residence following a fire in mid-March.
Along with the asset declarations, the court has published detailed information about the judicial appointment process for both High Courts and the Supreme Court. This documentation outlines the specific roles of High Court Collegiums, state and central governments, and the Supreme Court Collegium.
06/05/2025
Justice Gowri’s elevation to the bench in February, 2023 made headlines due to her alleged right-wing leanings, with a petition seeking her disqualification on these grounds and the matter being raised in the Rajya Sabha. https://thewire.in/law/accused-of-hate-speech-bjp-links-justice-gowri-appointed-as-permanent-judge-at-madras-hc
Controversy surrounding Justice Gowri
A petition filed against Justice Gowri’s elevation to the high court in February last year, when she was an advocate, had claimed that she had made hate speeches against Muslims and Christians. The petition, which sought quashing of her elevation, also said that Gowri had been the former general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Mahila Morcha.
11/09/2024
The book, ‘Supreme Court and the Indian Economy’, examines the impact of six Supreme Court judgements on economic policy, privatisation, and environmental regulations. https://theprint.in/feature/sc-must-consider-the-economic-impact-of-its-rulings-a-good-law-may-have-a-bad-effect/2229575/
'Supreme Court and the Indian Economy' by Pradeep S Mehta of Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS) International.
The book argues that the Supreme Court’s decisions must consider socio–economic realities and apply structured economic analysis to all its judgments.
The book dissects six landmark judgments, including the 2016 ban on liquor sales along state and national highways, the 2014 cancellation of coal block allocations since 1993, and the 2012 2G spectrum case. Of the six judgments, only one — Shivashakti Sugars Limited v Shree Renuka Sugar Limited in 2017 — cited the importance of integrating law and economics.
by Vandana Menon
22/08/2024
SC publishes data on collegium recommendation; provides caste, gender break-up https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/sc-publishes-data-on-collegium-recommendation-provides-caste-gender-breakup-101746520810073.html
Disproportionate representation at the Supreme Court: A perspective based on Caste and Religion of judges https://www.barandbench.com/columns/disproportionate-representation-supreme-court-caste-and-religion-of-judges
'Only 3% of HC judges are from SC/STs': India Justice Report 2025 highlights widening gap in representation https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2025/04/21/only-3-of-hc-judges-are-from-scsts-india-justice-report-2025-highlights-widening-gap-in-representation.html April 21, 2025 out of 698 high court judges appointed since 2018, 22 are from SCs, 15 belong to STs, 87 come from OBCs, and 37 were from other minority communities. Apart from Karnataka, with Tamil Nadu being the second, no state or Union territory fulfills its SC, ST, and OBC quota, and only 10 States and UTs meet the reservation up to 50%.
https://www.forwardpress.in/2025/05/news-recruitment-of-judges-in-high-courts/ The collegium approved the appointment of a total of 221 judges during the tenure of former Chief Justice Chandrachud and former Chief Justice Khanna. About 167 judges were selected from general category. While only 54 judges were selected from disadvantaged groups.
in the Madras High Court. In these 17 cases, 88.2 percent were appointed from the backward class (including the women of the backward class and the same class), scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Telangana. Here also 85.7 percent of backward, scheduled caste and scheduled tribe were appointed. The third place behind Telangana is Karnataka, where 66.7 percent of judges are appointed from Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Surprisingly, the state of Kerala, which is said to be progressive, is in stark contrast to other southern states in this regard. Here only less than 20 percent of judges from backward class, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes are appointed.
there are High Courts of at least 9 states, where all the judges appointed during this period are of general category. Such as 9 appointments in the Patna High Court of Bihar, 19 appointments in the Madhya Pradesh High Court (all dual-caste), 6 appointments in the Calcutta High Court of West Bengal (including one Muslim), 11 appointments in the Delhi High Court (one Jain and one Sikh), 2 appointments in the Orissa High Court, 2 appointments in the Tripura High Court, one appointment in the Jharkhand High Court, 7 appointments in the Punjab and Haryana High Court (including 3 minorities). Sikhs are) and there was an appointment in Meghalaya.- "J:\fortransfer\66-Judges-caste-north-south.html"