NEW DELHI: Taking note of the 23 per cent judicial vacancies in lower courts in Tamil Nadu, the Supreme Court passed directions to fill these posts by February next.

A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of submissions of Additional Advocate General (AAG) Amit Anand Tiwari, appearing for the State government, that steps are being taken to fill up posts of district judges, senior civil judges and junior civil judges.

“The process to fill up these vacancies has to be completed in a time-bound manner,” the CJI said.

The bench took note of the submissions of senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, who is assisting it as an amicus curiae, and also perused the report submitted by the Madras High Court on the number of vacancies and steps taken to fill them up.

As per the October 11 report of the HC registrar general, the sanctioned strength of judicial officers is 1,369, in the cadre of district judge, senior civil judge and junior civil judge.

Issuing timeline, the bench, in its order, noted the submission that to fill up 166 vacancies of junior civil judges, the main written examination was held on November 4 and 5 this year.

“The process shall be concluded positively on or before 31 December 2023. Appointment orders shall be issued before the end of February 2024,” it said.