8-630-complaints-against-sitting-judges-received-by-cji-govt

In what can be seen as significant data revealed by Law Ministry in the Lok Sabha, the  office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) has received 8,360 complaints against sitting judges in the last decade. Union Law Ministry revealed these figures in the parliament on Friday.

 

The information was given in response to a question posed by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Member of Parliament (MP) Matheswaran VS.  The MP had asked for a list of complaints regarding corruption, sexual misconduct or other serious impropriety received against judges of the High Courts or the Supreme Court.

 

Based on data received from the Supreme Court, the Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal submitted a written response stating that 8,360 complaints were received between 2016-2025. The highest number of such complaints  were reported in  2024 at 1,170, followed by 1,102 in 2025 while in 2020 only 518 such complaints were registered.  

 

Matheswaran also asked if any action was taken on these complaints. However, the Law Ministry's response did not address that aspect. It also did not reveal why there was no record of action taken on complaints.

 

Another question raised was whether the Central government was aware of any mechanism used by the Supreme Court to maintain records or database of complaints regarding corruption, sexual misconduct or other serious impropriety received against judges of the High Courts or the Supreme Court.

 

The answer merely stated that the Chief Justice of India and Chief Justices of High Courts are competent to receive complaints against judges as per the "in-house procedure". Complaints against members of the higher judiciary received via the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) or in any other form are forwarded to the CJI or the concerned High Court Chief Justice, the response stated.

 

The Minister also did not respond to Matheswaran's question on whether the government proposes to issue guidelines or take steps to ensure systematic recording, monitoring and accountability of complaints against members of the higher judiciary.