In the last one week, 53 additional judges in eight high courts have been elevated as permanent judges but no fresh appointments were made in the higher judiciary, including the Supreme Court.
Separate Law ministry notifications issued between March 7 and 10 said that while 17 additional judges have been elevated as permanent judges in the Madhya Pradesh High Court, 10 judges were elevated in the Rajasthan High Court.
Similarly, six, seven and three additional judges have been elevated as permanent judges in the high courts of Bombay, Gujarat and Calcutta respectively.
While five additional judges were elevated as permanent judges in the Kerala High Court, four have been elevated in the Allahabad High Court and one in Manipur.
Additional judges have a tenure of two years following which most are elevated as permanent judges.
Sources in the government said the elevations were routine in nature but no fresh judges have been appointed in the recent past.
The recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium to elevate Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice K M Joseph and senior advocate Indu Malhotra to the apex court is pending with the government since January.
While the approved strength of judges of the 24 high courts is 1,079, the working strength is a mere 673. It makes the high courts short of 406 judges.
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