The Union law minister has revealed in the Lok Sabha that 173,063 cases have languished for more than 30 years in various Indian courts. The data also reveals that 34 high courts with a sanctioned strength of 1,114 judges are working only with 773 judges. Regarding the subordinate judiciary across the country, the sanctioned posts of judges is 25,246, against which only 19,858 posts are occupied, while 5,388 posts remain vacant.
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THE number of cases that have remained pending in high courts across the country for more than 30 years is a staggering 71,204.
The corresponding figure for district and subordinate courts across the country is even higher at 101,837.
As of March 21, 2023, 22 cases in the Supreme Court have remained pending for more than 30 years.
These astonishing figures were revealed by the Union government on Friday in the Lok Sabha.
Interestingly, there are no cases pending for between 10–15 years in the Supreme Court.
While answering a question on the pendency of cases in Indian courts, Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal also added that the disposal of pending cases in courts is within the domain of the judiciary and that the government has no role to play.
He also stated that the vacancy of judges is not the sole reason for the high number of pending cases in courts.
“Pendency of cases in courts can be [attributed] to several factors which, inter alia, include availability of physical infrastructure and supporting court staff, complexity of facts involved, nature of evidence, cooperation of stakeholders— the Bar, investigation agencies, witnesses and litigants— and proper application of rules and procedures.
“Other factors that lead to delays in disposal of cases include lack of prescribed timeframes by respective courts for disposal of various kinds of cases, frequent adjournments, and lack of adequate arrangement to monitor, track and bunch cases for hearing,” the minister said.
The total number of cases pending before the Supreme Court, as on July 1, 2023, is 69,766, the minister stated.
The data
The Allahabad High Court is buried under the weight of the most number of pending cases among all high courts, with a whopping 1,039,879 pending cases.
It is followed by the high courts of Bombay, Rajasthan and Madras, with 700,214, 652,093 and 551,953 pending cases respectively.
The data also reveals that 34 high courts with a sanctioned strength of 1,114 judges are working only with 773 judges.
Regarding the subordinate judiciary across the country, the sanctioned posts of judges is 25,246, against which only 19,858 posts are occupied, while 5,388 posts remain vacant.
District-level judiciary in Uttar Pradesh has the maximum number of pending cases at 11,635,286, followed by Maharashtra and Bihar with 5,121,209 and 3,508,123 pending cases respectively.
The minister clarified that information regarding sanctioned and working strength. and vacancies in tribunals (such as Central Administrative Tribunal and National Green Tribunal) was not maintained by the department of justice.
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