Over 8,600 complaint against sitting judges since 2016: Govt tells Parliament

New Delhi: Over 8,600 complaints against sitting judges have been received by the office of the chief justice of India (CJI) since 2016, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday, February 13.

In a written reply, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said 8,639 complaints have been received against sitting judges between 2016 and 2025. The highest number of complaints (1,170) was received in 2024 by the office of the CJI against sitting judges.

Complaints received against judges and chief justices of the high courts are handled by the judiciary through an “in-house mechanism”.

He recalled that in May 1997, the Supreme Court adopted two resolutions — “The Restatement of Values of Judicial Life”, which lays down certain judicial standards and principles to be observed and followed by SC and HC judges; and “In-house Procedure”, which takes suitable remedial measure against judges who do not follow the universally accepted values of judicial life including those in the “Restatement of Values of Judicial Life”.

According to the established in-house procedure for the higher judiciary, the CJI is competent to receive complaints against SC judges and chief justices of the high courts.

Similarly, chief justices of high courts are competent to receive complaints against the conduct of the high court judges.

Complaints against members of the higher judiciary received on the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) or in any other form are forwarded to the CJI or chief justices of high courts competent to receive such complaints, he explained.