‘India has only 15 judges per million population’

New Delhi: A newly released study on India’s judicial system highlights a significant deficit in the country’s judge-to-population ratio, with only 15 judges available per million citizens—far below the 50 judges per million recommended by the Law Commission decades ago.

The 2025 India Justice Report, published Tuesday, reveals that India’s current judicial strength stands at 21,285 judges serving a population of 1.4 billion. This figure pales in comparison to international standards, with the United States maintaining 150 judges per million people according to a January 2024 New York Times report, while Europe averaged 220 judges per million in 2022, as documented by the Council of Europe.

“Nationally, in the district courts, the average workload is 2,200 cases per judge. In the Allahabad and Madhya Pradesh High Courts, the caseload per judge amounts to 15,000,” states the report, pointing to overwhelming caseloads facing the judiciary.

The situation is exacerbated by vacancies within the system. High courts are operating with 33 per cent of positions unfilled, while district courts show a 21 per cent vacancy rate in 2025, contributing to mounting backlogs.

Diversity remains a challenge in India’s judiciary. Though women’s representation in district courts has increased from 30 per cent in 2017 to 38.3 per cent in 2025 and from 11.4 per cent to 14 per cent in high courts, the Supreme Court lags behind with only 6 per cent women judges. Currently, among the country’s 25 high courts, only one is headed by a woman chief justice.

The report also addresses representation gaps among marginalised communities. “In the district judiciary, only five per cent of judges belong to scheduled tribes (STs), and 14 per cent are from scheduled castes (SCs). Of the 698 high court judges appointed since 2018, only 37 judges are from SC and ST categories,” the document notes. Overall representation of other backward castes (OBCs) stands at 25.6 per cent.

Delhi’s district courts have achieved relatively lower vacancy rates at 11 per cent, with women comprising 45 per cent of judges. However, the report indicates that Delhi judges face an increasing workload, with each handling an average of 2,023 cases in 2024, up from 1,551 in 2017.

Case pendency remains a critical issue nationwide. “Barring Karnataka, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim and Tripura, one in every two cases have been pending for more than three years in all high courts,” the report states. In Delhi specifically, one in five cases has remained unresolved for over five years.

Financial support for the judicial system appears inadequate according to the findings. The per capita annual expenditure on the judiciary amounts to Rs 182 nationally, with legal aid receiving just Rs 6.46 per person. “No state spends more than one per cent of its total annual expenditure on the judiciary,” the report asserts.

The 2025 India Justice Report, initiated by Tata Trusts in 2019 and now in its fourth edition, was produced in collaboration with multiple organisations, including the Centre for Social Justice, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, and Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. The comprehensive study calls for immediate action to address vacancies and improve representation across India’s judicial system.