According to data released by the Supreme Court, only 14 out of the 221 High Court judges appointed between November 9, 2022, and May 5, 2025, are related to either retired or sitting judges. This figure represents a mere 6% of the total appointments, providing a factual perspective on the ongoing debate over nepotism within the Indian judiciary.

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The list of judges with family connections to current or former judges includes:

1. Justice Nupur Bhati (Rajasthan High Court): Wife of Justice Pushpender Singh Bhati, a sitting judge of Rajasthan High Court.
2. Justice Yogendra Kumar Purohit (Rajasthan High Court): Brother-in-law of Justice Manoj Vyas and Justice Uma Shankar Vyas, both serving in Rajasthan High Court.
3. Justice Praveer Bhatnagar (Rajasthan High Court): Son of Justice Ranvir Sahai Varma, a former judge of Rajasthan High Court.
4. Justice Prashant Kumar (Allahabad High Court): Son of Justice Maheshwari Prasad Singh, a former judge of Allahabad High Court.
5. Justice Manish Kumar Nigam (Allahabad High Court): Son of Justice Ramesh Prasad Nigam, a former judge of Allahabad High Court.
6. Justice Shailesh Pramod Brahme (Bombay High Court): Son of Justice Pramod Shantaram, a former judge of Bombay High Court.
7. Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal (Chhattisgarh High Court): Brother-in-law of Justice S.K. Agrawal, a sitting judge of Chhattisgarh High Court.
8. Justice Rohit Kapoor (Punjab and Haryana High Court): Son-in-law of Justice Amar Dutt Sharma, a former judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court.
9. Justice Rudra Prakash Mishra (Patna High Court): Son-in-law of Justice Shyam Shankar Tripathi, a former judge of Allahabad High Court.
10. Justice Bibhu Datta Guru (Chhattisgarh High Court): Son-in-law of Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, a sitting judge of the Supreme Court.
11. Justice Deeptendra Narayan Ray (Gujarat High Court): Son of Justice G.N. Ray, a former Supreme Court judge.
12. Justice Tejas Dhirenbhai Karia (Delhi High Court): Son of Justice B.N. Karia, a former judge of Gujarat High Court, and brother of Justice B.D. Karia, a judge of Gujarat High Court.
13. Justice Soni Srivastava (Patna High Court): Daughter of Justice Rekha Kumari, a former judge of Patna High Court.
14. Justice Reetobroto Kumar Mitra (Calcutta High Court): Son of Justice Ronojit Kumar Mitra, a former judge of Calcutta High Court.

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The Supreme Court’s data further revealed that, during the period between November 2022 and November 2024, a total of 303 proposals for High Court appointments were received. Out of these, the Supreme Court Collegium approved 170 appointments. These appointments included seven judges from Scheduled Castes, five from Scheduled Tribes, 21 from Other Backward Classes (OBCs), 28 women, 23 from minority communities, 12 related to judges, and seven from the Most Backward Classes (MBCs).

In the period from November 2024 to May 5, 2025, under the tenure of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, the Supreme Court Collegium approved 51 High Court appointments out of 103 proposed candidates. These 51 appointments were categorized as follows:

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• 11 from OBC communities
• 1 from Scheduled Castes
• 2 from Scheduled Tribes
• 8 from minority communities
• 6 women judges
• 2 with family connections to sitting or retired judges of High Courts or the Supreme Court