Lok Sabha Question No. 286 (STARRED), answered on 2017-03-22
Subject: Infrastructure in Courts
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: MD. BADARIDDOZA KHAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. *286

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 22 ND  MARCH, 2017

## Infrastructure in Courts

## *286. SHRI MD. BADARUDDOZA KHAN:

## Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  status  of  development  of  infrastructure  facilities  and  computerisation  in  the courts;
- (b)  whether  the  Government  is  aware  of  shortage  of  Court  Rooms  and  other infrastructure in the Courts across the country resulting in tardy disposal of cases in such courts and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (c) the sanctioned strength of Judges in the Courts including Subordinate Courts and the  number of  posts  lying  vacant  at  present,  Court-wise  along  with  the  reasons therefor; and
- (d) the corrective steps being taken by the Government to fill up the vacant posts and provide adequate infrastructure in the Courts at the earliest?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE AND ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) to (d): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) of LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *286 FOR ANSWER ON 22 ND  MARCH, 2017.

(a) to (d) : The development of infrastructure facilities for judiciary is the primary responsibility of  the  State  Governments.    However,  in  order  to  augment  the  resources  of  the  State Governments,  a  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  (CSS)  for  development  of  infrastructure facilities for judiciary has been in operation since 1993-94.  Financial assistance to the tune of Rs. 5,479 crore has been provided to the States and Union Territories since inception of the  Scheme, out  of  which  an  amount  of  Rs.  2,034  crore  has  been  sanctioned  since  May, 2014.  The Government is also implementing eCourts Mission Mode project which broadly covers computerisation of district and subordinate courts.

As per information received from the High Courts and the State Governments, 16,513 court  halls  were  available  for  Subordinate  Judiciary  as  on  31.12.2015  against  the  working strength of 16,528 judicial officers as on 30.09.2016.  Further, 2,447 court halls were under construction.  In  addition,  14,420  Residential  Units  were  available  for  Judges  /  Judicial Officers of District and Subordinate Courts and 1,868 under construction as on 31.12.2015.

The national e-Courts portal (http://www.ecourts.gov.in) has been made operational.  It provides online services such as case registration, cause lists, case status, daily orders and final judgements.  As per the information available on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), there are 19,982 computerised courts in the country as on 17 th March, 2017.  Phase II of the eCourts MMP is approved on 16 th July, 2015 for the duration of four years or until the project is completed, whichever is later, at the cost of Rs.1,670 crore.

The filling of vacancies of Judges / Judicial officers in Districts and Subordinate Courts is within the domain of the State Governments and the High Courts concerned.  However, as per the Court News (July-September, 2016) of Supreme Court, the details of sanctioned and working  strength  and  vacancies  of  Judges  /  Judicial  Officers  in  District  and  Subordinate Courts as on 30.09.2016 are given in the Statement Annexed.

The Government has adopted a co-ordinated approach to assist judiciary for phased liquidation  of  arrears  and  pendency  in  judicial  systems,  which, inter-alia ,  involves  better infrastructure  for  courts  including  computerisation,  increase  in  strength  of  judicial  officers  / judges,  policy  and  legislative  measures  in  the  areas  prone  to  excessive  litigation  and emphasis on human resource development.

In addition, following steps have also been taken by the Government in the matter.

- (i) The  sanctioned  strength  of  Judges  of  High  Courts  has  been  increased  from  906 judges in June 2014 to 1079 judges in May, 2016.
- (ii) The sanctioned strength of the subordinate judiciary has been increased from 20,174 at the end of 2014 to 21,374 in September, 2016.
- (iii) The filling of vacancies of Judges / Judicial officers in Districts and Subordinate Courts is  within  the  domain  of  the  State  Governments  and  the  High  Courts  concerned. However, Government takes up the matter with the High Courts from time to time to fill up the vacancies of Judges / Judicial Officers of District and Subordinate Courts.
- (iv) In  May  2015, a communication was addressed to the Chief Justices of High Courts requesting  them  to  apprise  the  action  being  taken  to  make  the  recruitment  process more broad based to fill  up  the  existing  vacancies  of  judicial  officers  /  judges  at  all levels in the District and Subordinate Courts to enable the Government to take a view on the need for formation of All India Judicial Service.     Most of the High Courts have indicated  that  the  recruitment  process  which  is  in  their  domain  for  vacancies  in subordinate judiciary at all levels has been expedited in terms of the resolution passed in the Conference of Chief Justices held in New Delhi in April 2015.  The selections for the various posts in subordinate judiciary are being conducted by State Governments / High Courts in consonance with the directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Malik Mazhar Sultan case Vs UP Public Service Commission.
- (v) All  State  Governments  have  notified  the  State  Litigation  Policies  so  as  to  reduce Government Litigations.  National Litigation Policy is on the anvil.
- (vi) Promotion of Alternative  Dispute  Resolution  (ADR)  mechanism  is  a  key  strategy  for reducing delays and pendency in courts.
- (vii) National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) is a key tool for access to justice for poor people  in  India,  under  the  overall  supervision  of  the  Chief  Justice  of  India  as  the Patron-in Chief.  It  organised  the  National Lok  Adalat  in  February,  2017.    6.39  lakh pending cases and 2.95 cases at the pre-litigation stage were disposed.
- (viii) 1175 obsolete laws have been repealed.
- (ix) Recently, the Government has launched a nation-wide drive to reduce the number of cases pending in courts by curtaining the  Government litigations.    The  Government has written to all Ministers of Central Ministries and Chief Ministers of States to launch 'special  arrears  clearance  drives'  to  reduce  pending  cases  and  minimize  fresh litigations.
- (x) Based on the proposals received from the High Court Collegium, during the year 2016, 126  fresh  appointment  of  Judges  in  High  Courts  and  131  Additional  Judges  were made permanent, which is the highest number of appointments made in the last 26

years.    In  addition,  the  tenure  of  22  Additional  Judges  of  High  Courts  was  also extended.    Besides,  based  on  the  proposal  received  from  the  Supreme  Court Collegium, 4 judges were appointed in the Supreme Court in 2016.  During the current year (2017), as on date, 5 more Judges has been appointed in Supreme Court, 9 more Judges  have  been  appointed  in  High  Courts  and  16  more  Additional  Judges  have been made permanent.

- (xi) The  14 th Finance  Commission  has  endorsed  the  proposal  to  strengthen  the  judicial system in States which includes, inter-alia, establishing 1800 FTCs for a period of five years for cases of heinous crimes; cases involving senior citizens, women, children, disabled  and  litigants  affected  with  HIV  AIDS  and  other  terminal  ailments;  and  civil disputes involving land acquisition and property / rent disputes pending for more than five years at a cost of Rs. 4144 crore.  The 14 th Finance Commission has urged State Governments to use the additional fiscal space provided by the Commission in the tax devolution to meet such requirements. The Hon'ble Prime Minister had written to all Chief Ministers on 23 rd April, 2015  followed by reminders from the Hon'ble Minister of Law  &  Justice  to  make  available  the  fund  recommended  by  the  14 th Finance Commission  to  judiciary  from  the  additional  fiscal  space  available  under  the  14 th Finance Commission.
- (xii) As per the resolution adopted in the Joint Conference held in New Delhi on 24 th April, 2016, The Government vide its letter dated 26 th September, 2016 requested the State Governments  to  strengthen  the  institutional  mechanism  between  the  State  and  the Judiciary where the Chief Secretary and his team and 2 or 3 Judges of the High Court to  regularly  meet  and  monitor  utilisation  of  plan  fund  and  timely  completion  of infrastructure  and  eCourts  Mission  Mode  project.    The  States  have  also  been requested  to  assist  Judiciary  in  preparing  perspective  /  annual  plan  for  various activities to be undertaken in the justice sector on account of enhanced devolution of funds to the States under the 14 th Finance Commission.  In addition, the States were requested to provide technical manpower for ICT upgradation.
- (xiii) The Government vide a letter dated 3 Feb 2017, addressed the Chief Justices of the 24 High Courts, raising concerns regarding the increased number of undertrials in jails across the country. The Government, in underscoring the importance of fair trial for every  accused,  requested  the  High  Court  to  advise  the  district  judiciary  to  ensure effective  implementation  of  Section  436A  Code  of  Criminal  Procedure  and  ensure periodic monitoring of the associated Undertrial Review Committee mechanism.  So far,  two  High  Courts  -  Punjab  and  Haryana  High  Court  and  Madhya  Pradesh  High Court - have responded to this letter who have assured action on this front.
- (xiv) As per the direction of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in its Order dated 02.01.2017 in the matter  of  Imtiyaz  Ahmed  Case,  the  Department  of  Justice  has  forwarded  a  copy  of interim  report  of  the  NCMS  (National  Court  Management  System)  Committee  to  all State  Governments  and  High  Courts  to  enable  them  to  take  follow  up  action  to determine the required Judges Strength of district judiciary based on the NCMS report.
- (xv) Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Court  Act,  2015  has  been  notified  on  1 st January,  2016  to  have  a  streamlined procedure for the conduct of cases in the Commercial Division and in the Commercial Court by amending the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC) for commercial cases so as to improve the efficiency and reduce delays in disposal of commercial cases.
- (xvi) Necessary amendments have been made to Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 to make the award within 12 months, to resolve the dispute through fast rack procedure, to ensure Neutrality of arbitrators, and to restrict the term 'Public Policy of India' (as a ground for challenging the award)
- (xvii) The  Negotiable  Instruments  (Amendment)  Act  2015  has  been  notified  to  clarify  the jurisdiction where dishonour of cheque cases may be filed and provide for transfer of cases  to  the  appropriate  jurisdiction  and  consolidation  of  multiple  cases  filed  in different courts.

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## Annexure

## Statement  referred  to  Lok  Sabha  Starred  Question  No.*286  for  reply  on  22.03.2017 regarding infrastructure in courts

## Sanctioned Strength, working strength and vacancies of judges in the various Subordinate Court in the country as on 30.09.2016

| Sr. No.   | Name of the State / UT     | Total Sanctioned Strength   | Total Working Strength   | Vacancy   |
|-----------|----------------------------|-----------------------------|--------------------------|-----------|
| 1.        | Uttar Pradesh              | 2,262                       | 1,674                    | 588       |
| 2.        | Andhra Pradesh & Telangana | 975                         | 798                      | 177       |
| 3(a)      | Mahrashtra                 | 2,257                       | 2,248                    | 9         |
| 3(b)      | Goa                        | 57                          | 46                       | 11        |
| 3(c)      | Diu and Daman              | 7                           | 6                        | 1         |
| 3(d)      | Silvasa                    |                             |                          |           |
| 4(a)      | West Bengal                | 1,013                       | 885                      | 128       |
| 4(b)      | Andaman & Nicobar          |                             |                          |           |
| 5.        | Chhattisgarh               | 395                         | 334                      | 61        |
| 6.        | Delhi                      | 793                         | 491                      | 302       |
| 7.        | Gujarat                    | 1,953                       | 1,133                    | 820       |
| 8(a)      | Assam                      | 424                         | 314                      | 110       |
| 8(b)      | Nagaland                   | 34                          | 25                       | 9         |
| 8(c)      | Mizoram                    | 63                          | 30                       | 33        |
| 8(d)      | Arunachal Pradesh          | 26                          | 17                       | 9         |
| 9.        | Himachal Pradesh           | 155                         | 145                      | 10        |
| 10.       | Jammu & Kashmir            | 246                         | 219                      | 27        |
| 11.       | Jharkhand                  | 671                         | 454                      | 217       |
| 12.       | Karnataka                  | 1,299                       | 923                      | 376       |
| 13(a)     | Kerala                     | 470                         | 415                      | 55        |
| 13(b)     | Lakshadweep                | 3                           | 3                        | 0         |
| 14.       | Madhya Pradesh             | 1,461                       | 1,233                    | 228       |
| 15.       | Manipur                    | 41                          | 34                       | 7         |
| 16.       | Meghalaya                  | 57                          | 41                       | 16        |
| 17(a)     | Tamil Nadu                 | 1,038                       | 948                      | 90        |
| 17(b)     | Puducherry                 | 26                          | 14                       | 12        |
| 18.       | Orissa                     | 863                         | 606                      | 257       |
| 19.       | Bihar                      | 1,825                       | 1,016                    | 809       |
| 20(a)     | Punjab                     | 674                         | 548                      | 126       |
| 20(b)     | Haryana                    | 644                         | 505                      | 139       |
| 20(c)     | Chandigarh                 | 30                          | 30                       | 0         |
| 21.       | Rajasthan                  | 1,203                       | 1,081                    | 122       |
| 22.       | Sikkim                     | 18                          | 14                       | 4         |
| 23.       | Tripura                    | 106                         | 78                       | 28        |
| 24.       | Uttarakhand                | 285                         | 220                      | 65        |
|           | Total                      | 21,374                      | 16,528                   | 4,846*    |

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*Vacancies in Subordinate Courts are to be filled up by the  concerned High Courts / State Government.