New Delhi: For the past few days, there is a tussle between the Central Government and the Supreme Court Collegium regarding the appointment of judges. Now the government has once again sent a message to the judiciary on this matter. Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju has said in the Rajya Sabha that the government is committed to social diversity in the appointment of judges in high courts. He said that we have asked the Chief Justices of the High Courts to give preference to Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), minorities, and women candidates while recommending the names of judges. Due to this, social diversity will be maintained in the High Courts.

Actually, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju gave this information while giving a written answer to a question of BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi. Sushil Kumar Modi had asked how many judges from SC, ST, OBC, and minority communities have been appointed in the Supreme Court and High Courts in the last 5 years. On this, the Law Minister replied that in the last 5 years, 554 judges have been appointed in 25 High Courts. Of these, 430 judges belong to the general category. There, 19 judges are Scheduled Castes (SC). 6 judges belong to Scheduled Tribe (ST) category and 58 judges belong to OBC communities. Along with this, 27 judges from minority sections have also got appointments.

The Union Law Minister said that out of these, a total of 84 judges are women. Regarding the recommendations of the collegium and the appointment of judges, Kiren Rijiju said that there are a total of 34 posts of judges in the Supreme Court. Of these, 27 are at present and 7 posts are vacant. He said that a recommendation has been made by the Supreme Court Collegium recently for appointment to the posts of these 7 judges. However, there are still large vacancies in the High Courts. There are a total of 1,108 posts of judges in 25 High Courts of the country. Of these, 333 are still vacant. The minister said that a total of 142 proposals have been sent by the High Court collegiums, which are currently under discussion.

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