Judge

This article has been reviewed on (17.05.24)

A judge is a public officer, appointed to preside and to administer the law in a court of justice. The judge is charged with the control of court proceedings and deciding on questions of law. The role of the judges differs in different countries, depending on the system of law adopted i.e., civil law or common law. Civil law courts follow an inquisitorial process, where judges take on the primary role of questioning witnesses and bear the duty of uncovering the facts. On the other hand, in common law courts follow an adversarial process, meaning that the lawyers representing each side play a central role in interrogating witnesses and presenting evidence. India follows the common law system, which provides for the judges to be the neutral deciding party based on the presented facts. A judge, primarily, determines all matters of disputes and pronounces what is law now, as well as what will be the law for the future and acts under the appointment of the Government. There are various judges based on the hierarchy in the court and their designation.

Official Definition of Judge

An official definition of the term “Judge” is provided in Section 19 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 2(1)(15) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. It states, “The word “Judge” denotes not only every person who is officially designated as a Judge, but also every person,— who is empowered by law to give, in any legal proceeding, civil or criminal, a definitive judgment, or a judgment which, if not appealed against, would be definitive, or a judgment which, if confirmed by some other authority, would be definitive, or who is one of a body of persons, which body of persons is empow­ered by law to give such a judgment.”

A similar definition is also given in Section 2 of the Judges (Protection) Act, 1985.

Types of Judges

The hierarchy of judges in India is as follows:

Appearance in Official Data Sites

1. E-courts websites :The E-courts website is an integrated website for easy access to various courts, i.e., the Supreme Court, High courts and District courts.
   
2. E-courts Website for District Court: The website gives access to information related to the judges, cases, etc in all the courts in various districts. For Example, consider the page of the New Delhi District Court at Patiala House
   

   This is illustrative of the information that can be accessed pertaining to specific districts from the e-courts website.
3. High Court Websites: The High Court specific websites can be found on e-courts. Websites for specific High Courts provide expansive information which includes things like Cause list, Judgements, Recruitment notices etc. They also include information on the roster of judges, a list of current judges, past judges and information on any kind of vacancy. For example, see the Judge's Roster of Delhi High Court
   

   This is illustrative of the information available on respective High Court websites.
4. Supreme Court of India Website: The website for the Supreme Court of India provides the information pertaining about the cases, Judges Roster, Judge Benches, etc. The website provides the profile of current judges which includes their date of birth, educational background, judicial journey, the term of their office, etc.
   
5. Department of Justice Website: The Department of Justice website provides information on all the latest updates relating to the orders, notices, etc  the appointment, transfers, retirement, etc of the Judges.
   
6. Integrated Government Online Directory: The Integrated Government online Directory is a single source of information to all the Government websites. The Judiciary category in the Directory provides access for not just the e-courts website of Supreme Court, High Court and District Court, but also provides links to the various tribunals websites which holds all the information of the Court in general and the appointed Judicial officers.
   
7. The KHOJ initiative by Justice Hub is a project that aims to increase transparency and accountability in the Indian judiciary by making data about High Court judges more accessible to the public. The project was launched in 2019, and it has since collected data on over 4,000 High Court judges. The data that is collected by KHOJ includes information about the judges' educational background, date of birth, gender, professional experience including previous positions, and judicial decisions rendered by them on a variety of cases, which provides the expertise and experience of the judges. The data is collated from a variety of sources, including the websites of the High Courts, the Supreme Court, and the Law Commission of India.
   

   The Khoj initiative showcases data about judges here.

Research that Engages with the Concept of Justice

Scholarly Articles

Upendra Baxi, On How Not to Judge the Judges: Notes Towards Evaluation of the Judicial Role

argues that the traditional methods of evaluating the performance of judges are inadequate. He suggests that a more holistic approach is needed, one that takes into account the social and political context in which judges operate. Baxi critiques the "activist" and "formalist" models of judicial role. He argues that a more contextual approach would provide a more accurate and realistic assessment of the judicial role. It would also help ensure that judges are held accountable for their decisions, while at the same time respecting their independence and authority. It has been an influential piece in the field of legal theory.

Appointment Of Judges In Indian Higher Judiciary by Trapti Aggarwal and Dr. Narendra Bahadur Singh

discusses the process of appointment of judges in the higher judiciary in India. The article provides a valuable overview of the appointment process in India and the challenges that it faces.

Shaping of Future Judges: Tasks, Challenges and Strategies by N.R. Madhava Menon

This paper discusses the challenges and strategies involved in shaping the future judges of India. The article outlines the tasks that future judges will need to perform, which include upholding the rule of law, protecting the rights of the people, and resolving complex legal disputes. The article also discusses the challenges that future judges will face, which include the increasing complexity of the law, growing number of cases, and the politicization of the judiciary. The article provides an overview of the challenges and strategies involved in shaping the future judges of India.

"Calculating Judges' Strength in India: A Time-Based Weighted Caseload Approach" by Daksh

This report by Daksh discusses the different methods that have been proposed to calculate the ideal number of judges required in India.The study argues that the time-based weighted caseload method is the best approach, as it takes into account different types of cases that are filed in court and the amount of time it takes to dispose of them. The author also argues that this method is more accurate than the judge to population ratio method.

"Schooling the Judges" by Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy

The report discusses the role of state judicial academies in India. The academies are responsible for providing training to new judges, as well as refresher training to sitting judges. It examines the challenges of providing practical or clinical training to fresh law graduates who lack any experience practicing at the bar. The document discusses the history of state judicial academies in India. It also discusses the curriculum of the academies which typically includes courses on constitutional law, criminal law, civil procedure, and evidence. The academies offer courses on practical skills such as drafting judgments and conducting hearings. It also discusses the challenges of providing practical or clinical training to fresh law graduates. The authors argue that these challenges can be overcome by providing judges with opportunities to observe actual court proceedings and to participate in mock trials. The document concludes by discussing the future of state judicial academies in India. The article argues that the academies play an important role in the Indian justice system, and they call for increased investment in the academies.

Research Reports

The India Justice Report

The India Justice Report offers a comprehensive collection of data that officials and policymakers can utilize to gain insights into the various components of the justice system in their state. It helps identify weaknesses within the system, allowing them to take necessary measures to address and rectify these shortcomings. The report specifically examines judge vacancies, the workload and backlog of cases handled by judges, and the number of judgments rendered by them. Its aim is to enhance the overall administration of justice within the state.

"Ranking of Lower Judiciary in India 2017" by Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy

The report ranks the lower judiciary in India on the basis of 10 indicators, including the number of judges per 100,000 people, average age of judges, number of vacancies, and pendency of cases. The report recognises that there are too few judges, the average age of judges is high, and there are many vacancies. This has led to a backlog of cases, some of which have been pending for over 10 years. The report also makes a number of recommendations to improve the lower judiciary, including increasing the number of judges, reducing the average age of judges, filling vacancies, reducing the pendency of cases, and improving the training of judges on the basis of the lacunae observed by the report.

A comparative report on "Performance Evaluation and Promotion Schemes of Judicial Officers in India" by Prof. Srikrishna Deva Rao, Dr. Rangin Pallav Tripathy and Ms. Eluckiaa A

It aims to make a comparative study on the appointment and promotion scheme of Judicial officers in Indian states. The empirical research focuses on understanding the categories of judges and the scheme of promotion to the higher subordinate judiciary. It analyses the state-wise norms followed in the division of judges and their positions in the hierarchy of the subordinate judiciary i.e., District Judges and below. It majorly focuses on the recruitment of judges in the judicial system. It draws a comparative through the data and draws the recommendations for effective uniform system across the states.

Data Challenges

1. Data availability: The data on High Court judges is scattered across a variety of sources, including official websites of the High Courts, legal databases, and news articles. This makes it difficult to collect and curate the data in a timely and efficient manner. For example, the official websites of the High Courts often do not contain comprehensive information about the judges, and the information that is available may be outdated or inaccurate. Legal databases and news articles may contain more comprehensive information, but they are often difficult to search and the information may not be in a consistent format. The data on judges in India is often not transparent or accessible to the public. This can make it difficult to track the career paths of judges, to identify patterns in judicial decision-making, and to investigate allegations of judicial misconduct.
   
2. Data quality: The data on High Court judges is often incomplete, inaccurate, and inconsistent. This is due to a number of factors, including the lack of a centralized repository for judicial data, the absence of standard data formats, and the lack of resources for data cleaning and curation. For example, the data on the official websites of the High Courts may not be up-to-date, and the data in legal databases and news articles may be inconsistent. Additionally, the data on High Court judges may be incomplete, as it may not include information about all of the judges or all of the relevant variables.
3. Data privacy: The data on High Court judges contains sensitive personal information, such as date of birth, religion, and marital status. This raises concerns about data privacy and the protection of personal information. For example, the data on High Court judges may include information about the judges' political affiliations or their membership in professional associations. This information could be used to discriminate against the judges or to harm their reputation.

The KHOJ( Know Your High Court Judge) dataset addressed the following challenges by using a variety of methods, including:

• Data collection: The team used a variety of methods to collect data on High Court judges, including web scraping, manual data entry, and crowdsourcing.
• Data cleaning: The team used a variety of techniques to clean and curate the data, including data validation, data normalization, and data deduplication.
• Data privacy: The team took steps to protect the privacy of the data, such as anonymizing the data and using data encryption.

Also Known As/Synonymous Terms

The term “Judge” is used unanimously for most kinds of  judicial officers by the general public. Judges in district courts are generally referred to as judicial officers. A Magistrate exercising jurisdiction in respect of a charge on which he has power only to commit for trial to another Court is not considered as a judge. An executive magistrate is also not considered as a judge.

The terms "munsiff" and "judge" are often used interchangeably in India, but there are some important differences between the two. Munsiffs are appointed by the state government, while judges are appointed by the President of India/Governor of the State.

There is a notable difference between Members of the Tribunals and Judges of the Indian Judiciary, the members of a tribunal consist of both the Judicial members and technical members(expert members). The technical members may be selected from departments of the central government as well as from various other fields of expertise.The presence of technical members along with judicial members is a key feature of tribunals which distinguishes them from traditional courts. The judicial members can include Judges of High court, Retired judges, or lawyers with expertise.

Judicial Appointments

Judicial appointments in India follow a structured and hierarchical process rooted in constitutional provisions. Supreme Court and High Court judges are appointed by the President of India, with the collegium system playing a key role in recommending names. Eligibility includes Indian citizenship and experience either as a judge or advocate. The appointment process is governed by memoranda of procedure published by the Department of Justice.

At the district and subordinate level, judges are appointed through a combination of direct recruitment, departmental promotion, and competitive examinations, with variations across states. The State Public Service Commissions and High Courts share roles in recruitment, particularly for subordinate judiciary. The Malik Mazhar case set guidelines and timelines to streamline these appointments, ensuring transparency and timely filling of vacancies.

For more information refer to the wiki page on judicial appointments.

Removal of Judges

Judges in India can be removed for proven misbehaviour or incapacity through a complex process requiring a special majority in both Houses of Parliament, as laid out in the Constitution and the Judges Inquiry Act, 1968. Though seven removal motions have been initiated, no judge has been removed so far. The process is designed to protect judicial independence but faces criticism for lack of transparency, delays, and absence of clear standards for misconduct. Attempts at reform through Bills in 2006 and 2010 have stalled, and concerns remain about balancing accountability with judicial autonomy.

For more information refer to the wiki page on removal of judges.