{
  "id": 18581742,
  "title": "HC judge vacancies at decade-low 26%, but pendency keeps piling up",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/06/hc-judge-vacancies-at-decade-low-26-but-pendency-keeps-piling-up",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-11-06T22:21:32.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Times of India",
    "slug": "times-of-india",
    "url": "https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/hc-judge-vacancies-at-decade-low-26-but-pendency-keeps-piling-up/articleshow/135621556.cms"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Supreme Court of India has recently reported a significant decline in vacancies for High Court judges, declining to 26% of the sanctioned strength, despite an overall increase in the number of judges. This decrease marks the lowest level in the past decade, last seen in 2009. The largest High Court, Allahabad, has managed to reduce its vacancies to 56 out of 160 sanctioned posts. Other High Courts with larger benches, such as Bombay, Punjab and Haryana, Madras, Calcutta, Karnataka, and Delhi, have also increased their working strength, decreasing vacancies in these jurisdictions.\n\nThe last time vacancies were this low was in July 2009, when there were 234 vacancies out of 886 judges in 21 High Courts. Since then, vacancies in High Courts have gradually increased, coinciding with tensions between the judiciary and government over a judicial accountability bill and the passage of the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act by Parliament, which was later struck down by the Supreme Court.\n\nThe increasing vacancies in High Courts are a primary reason behind the growing backlog of cases. While the Supreme Court has never experienced large vacancies, case pendency has risen from 52,000 in 2009 to over 92,000 currently. The situation is worse in High Courts and district courts, with case pendency continuing to increase every month. In 2009, the total pendency of cases in High Courts was at 39.5 lakh, climbing to 45 lakh in 2013, and reaching 64 lakh in present times. District court vacancies remain stagnant around 5,000, despite a sanctioned strength of 25,894 judicial officers.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [
    "High Court judge vacancies at decade-low 26%, lowest since 2009",
    "All India case pendency rises from 52,000 in 2009 to 92,000 now",
    "District court vacancies stagnant at 5,000 despite 25,894 judicial officers"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}