The office of the chief justice received 8,630 complaints against sitting judges in the last 10 years, the Union government told Parliament on Friday.
The data tabled in the Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal pertained to complaints received between 2016 and 2025. The highest number of complaints, at 1,170, was received in 2024, while the lowest was in 2020 at 518.
The minister was responding to a question by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Matheswaran VS, who sought a list of complaints on corruption, sexual misconduct or other serious impropriety received against judges of the High Courts or the Supreme Court.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP asked if action was taken on the complaints. He further sought to know whether the Union government was aware of any mechanism used by the Supreme Court to maintain records or databases of such complaints.
The minister did not respond to the question on the action taken or the maintenance of records.
However, Meghwal said that the chief justice and the chief justices of the High Courts were competent to receive complaints against judges as per the in-house procedure.
The Supreme Court’s in-house procedure is a non-statutory mechanism to handle allegations of misconduct against judges.
The minister also noted that complaints against members of the higher judiciary received via the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System or in any other form were forwarded to the chief justice or the High Court chief justice concerned.
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