Only 6% of names suggested to HCs were of judges’ relatives

Contrary to popular perception that kith and kin of judges and former judges were being recommended for elevation to the Bench, the data released by the Supreme Court has revealed that only 6 per cent of names recommended for high court judgeship over the last two and a half years were from the families of judges.

In an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court has released detailed data on names recommended for elevation from November 9, 2022, to May 5, 2025, with the details of the category the recommended candidates belonged to.

“The proposals approved by the Supreme Court Collegium for appointments as high court judges during the period from November 9, 2022, to May 5, 2025, including the names, high court, source — whether from service or Bar, date of recommendation by the Supreme Court Collegium, date of notification by the Department of Justice, date of appointment, special category (SC/ST/OBC/Minority/Woman) and whether the candidate is related to any sitting or retired High Court/Supreme Court judge, have also been uploaded on the Supreme Court website,” an SC statement read.

Of the 406 candidates suggested, 221 were approved. Of them, candidates belonged to the SC (8), ST (7), OBC (32), MBC/BC (7), women (34) and minority (31) categories. Fourteen were related to judges, the Supreme Court’s statement said, adding the details were made public on Monday for knowledge and “awareness of the public”.

The Supreme Court has also made public the complete process of appointments to high courts and the Supreme Court, including the role assigned to the High Court Collegium, the role of and inputs received from the state governments, Centre and consideration by the Supreme Court Collegium.

India