51% increase in 10 years; 8,630 complaints to Chief Justice; flood of complaints against judges

NEW DELHI: There has been a 51 percent increase in complaints against senior sitting judges in the last ten years. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court received 8,630 complaints against Supreme Court and High Court judges from 2016 to 2025. There are complaints including corruption and sexual allegations. This was stated in the reply given by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in the Lok Sabha to a question by Tamil Nadu MP V.S. Matheswaran. This information was received from the Supreme Court.

While 729 complaints were filed against judges in 2016, the number increased to 1102 in 2025. The highest number of complaints in the last 10 years was received in 2024-1170. The lowest was 518 in 2020. 1102 complaints were received last year.

The minister clarified that an internal investigation is being conducted. Complaints received on the central government's grievance redressal websites are sent to the Chief Justices of the Supreme Court and High Courts.

Internal Investigation

• The judiciary has an internal investigation mechanism to deal with complaints. For this, the Supreme Court passed two resolutions on May 7, 1997
• The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court can entertain complaints against Supreme Court judges and Chief Justices of High Courts
• The Chief Justice of High Courts can also entertain complaints against High Court judges

Complaints

👉2016- 729

👉2017-682

👉2018-717

👉2019-1037

👉2020-518

👉2021-686

👉2022-1012

👉2023-977

👉2024-1170

👉2025-1102