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Law & Justice

Court Vacancies & Judge Strength

A court-level view of sanctioned posts, working judges, vacancies, and the official places to verify current judge strength.

Sanctioned strength
26,927

Total judge posts across Supreme Court, High Courts, and District & Subordinate Courts.

Working strength
21,284

Posts filled in the official SFV snapshot used by the judiciary dataset.

Vacant posts
5,643

Unfilled judge positions across the three national court levels.

Vacancy rate
21.0%

Vacant posts divided by sanctioned strength in the same official snapshot.

Judge strength table

Where vacancies are concentrated

This table keeps sanctioned, working, and vacant judge posts together so vacancy rates are read in context. It uses the same Ministry of Law & Justice SFV snapshot already carried by the judiciary page.

Court levelSanctionedWorkingVacantVacancy rate
Supreme Court343225.9%
High Courts1,12279632629.1%
District & Subordinate Courts25,77120,4565,31520.6%
Total26,92721,2845,64321.0%
How to use this

Keep vacancies separate from pendency

Vacancies help explain court capacity, but they should not be blended into a single justice score. The useful product surface is a transparent table with as-of dates, links to official rosters, and cross-links to pendency.

Open judiciary pendency

Appointment pressure

Track court level, sanctioned strength, working strength, vacancy count, and vacancy rate.

Source trail

Keep the Parliament answer, DOJ dashboard, NJDG, and Supreme Court roster visible together.

Data provenance

Snapshot
Judge strength as of 10 May 2026; judiciary metrics snapshot 2026-05-15
Coverage
Supreme Court, High Courts, and District & Subordinate Courts at national aggregate level
Limitations
Vacancy positions change with appointments, retirements, transfers, and reporting cadence. Use linked official systems for current roster checks.
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