New Delhi: The office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) received 8,630 complaints against sitting judges over the last 10 years, the Ministry of Law and Justice stated Friday.
The data, furnished in a written response by Minister of Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal, to a Lok Sabha query, highlights a fluctuating but generally upward trend in the number of grievances filed by citizens against sitting judges.
The data shows that while the COVID-19 pandemic year 2020 saw a dip in complaints with just 518 registered, the numbers have surged since. In 2024, complaints against sitting judges peaked at 1,170, followed closely by 1,102 complaints in 2025.
According to the year-wise breakdown of complaints shared by the ministry, there were 729 complaints in 2016 and 682 in 2017. There was a small surge in 2018 at 717, and a significant one in 2019 at 1,037. The year 2020 saw 518 complaints and there were 686 in 2021. The year 2022 recorded 1,012 complaints while 977 were noted in 2023.
Responding to questions from Lok Sabha MP Matheswaran V.S. regarding the existence of a systematic database for corruption or misconduct in the judiciary, the ministry clarified that the “independence of judiciary is enshrined in the Constitution of India”. Because of this, the executive’s role is limited, and complaints are handled through an established “in-house mechanism” adopted by the Supreme Court on 7 May, 1997.
This mechanism is guided by two primary resolutions. First, “The Restatement of Values of Judicial Life which lays down certain judicial standards and principles to be observed and followed by the judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts”.
And second: “In-house procedure for taking suitable remedial measures against judges who do not follow the universally accepted values of judicial life including those in the restatement of values of Judicial Life.”
Accordingly, the reply states that the Chief Justice of India is “competent to receive complaints against Judges of the Supreme Court and Chief Justice of the High Courts”.
Similarly, the Chief Justices of the respective high courts handle complaints regarding the conduct of high court judges.
While the government does not directly monitor these records, it facilitates the process through portals like CPGRAMS. The Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System is an online platform available to citizens 24×7 to lodge their grievances with public authorities on any subject related to service delivery. It is a single portal connected to all the ministries/departments of the Government of India and States.
Any grievances received via this platform are “forwarded to the Chief Justice of India or Chief Justices of High Courts competent to receive such complaints” for further action.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)