India has 21 judges per million population: Law Minister Kiren Rijiju

India has approximately 21 judges per million population, the government said in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday (February 2), citing the sanctioned strength of the judiciary and census figures of 2011.

In a written reply to a question, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said for calculating the judge-population ratio per million population in a particular year, the Department of Justice used the criterion of taking the population as per Census 2011 and the available information regarding sanctioned strength of judges in the Supreme Court, high courts, and district and subordinate courts in the particular year.

Also read: New system needed to address vacancies in higher judiciary: Kiren Rijiju

Based on the population as per the Census 2011 which was 1210.19 million and as per available information regarding the sanctioned strength of judges in the Supreme Court, high courts, and district and subordinate courts in the year 2023, the judge-population ratio in the country worked out to be approximately 21 judges per million population, he said.