Nearly 17 per cent of the 650 judges appointed to various high courts since 2018 belong to the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) categories, the government informed Parliament on Thursday.

Minorities account for less than 6 per cent of the total number of judges appointed since 2018, it said.

In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha , Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal also said there is no provision for reservation for any caste or class of persons for being appointed to the Supreme Court and the 25 high courts.

He said category-wise data pertaining to the representation of OBC, SCs, STs and minorities among high court judges is not maintained centrally.

However, information on social background is being provided by the recommendees (candidates) for elevation to high courts, in accordance with the revised annexure put into effect since 2018, wherein, besides other information, details regarding their social background are made available.

"As per information provided by the recommendees, out of 650 high court judges appointed since 2018, till December 6 this year, 492 judges belong to the general category, 20 judges belong to the SC category, 12 belong to the ST category, 77 judges belong to the OBC category, 36 judges belong to minorities," Meghwal said.

For the 13 remaining judges, no information is available in the annexures filled by them at the time of their consideration for appointment as high court judges, he noted.

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