Lok Sabha Question No. 6003 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-04-04
Subject: Pending Court Cases
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: RAVINDRA VISHWANATH GAIKWAD, BHAIRON PRASAD MISHRA, RAMACHANDRAN MULLAPPALLY, BANSHILAL MAHTO

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †6003

TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 04 TH  APRIL, 2018.

## Pending Court Cases

†6003. PROF. RAVINDRA VISHWANATH GAIKWAD: SHRI BHAIRON PRASAD MISHRA: SHRI MULLAPPALLY RAMACHANDRAN: DR. BANSHILAL MAHATO:

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

- (a) the number of criminal and civil cases lying pending in the Supreme Court, High Courts and subordinate courts presently and the number of cases lying pending for more than ten years in different courts separately, court and State-wise;
- (b) the court / State-wise number of cases disposed of by these courts in each of the last three years and the current year;
- (c) whether the Government has assessed the reasons for delay of more than ten years in disposing of the pending cases;
- (d) if so, the outcome thereof and the remedial measures taken / being taken in this regard;
- (e)  whether  the  recently  constituted  National  Judicial  Data  Grid  (NJDG)  to  identify  long pending judicial cases and their speedy disposal have furnished data in this regard and if so, the details thereof and the response of the Government thereto; and
- (f)  whether  many  people  have  died  anticipating  justice  due  to  non-disposal  of  pending cases and if so, the steps being taken by the Government to facilitate speedy justice?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF  LAW & JUSTICE AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## (SHRI  RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a)  to  (f):  Data  on  institution,  disposal  and  pendency  of  cases  in  the  Supreme  Court  and  High Courts  is  maintained  by  the  Supreme  Court  and  High  Courts  respectively.    As  per  information made available by the Supreme Court of India, the total number of pending cases in the Supreme Court  is  55,892.    As  per  information  available  on  the  web-portal  of  National  Judicial  Data  Grid (NJDG), 42.69 lakh cases are pending in various High Courts, out of which 10.11 lakh cases are pending for more than ten years.  High Court-wise details (Civil and Criminal) of pending cases including cases pending for more than ten years are given in a Statement at Annexure - I . 2.60 crore cases are pending in various District and Subordinate courts of the country (excluding State / Union Territories of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Lakshadweep and Puducherry), out of which 25.79 lakh cases are pending for more than the ten years.  State / UT - wise details (Civil and Criminal) of pending cases including cases pending for more than ten years are given in Annexure -II . The information about number of cases disposed by these courts each of the last three years and the current year is not available on the web-portal of National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG).

Some  of  the  main  factors  responsible  for  pendency  of  cases  in  courts  are  increasing number of state and central legislations, accumulation of first appeals, continuation of ordinary civil jurisdiction  in  some  of  the  High  Courts,  vacancies  of  Judges,  appeals  against  orders  of  quasijudicial  forums  going  to  High  Courts,  number  of  revisions  /  appeals,  frequent  adjournments, indiscriminate use of writ jurisdiction, lack of adequate arrangement to monitor, track and bunch cases for hearing.

In pursuance of resolution passed in the Chief Justices' Conference held in April, 2015, 24 High Courts have set up Arrears Committees to clear the backlog of cases pending for more than five years.  The Supreme Court has also constituted an Arrears Committee consisting of two Hon'ble Judges to formulate steps to reduce pendency of cases in High Courts and District Courts. At district level, the District Judge holds monthly meeting of all judicial officers to monitor progress made in reduction of long pending cases.

The  Central  Government  is  fully  committed  to  assisting  the  judiciary  to  enable  speedy disposal  of  cases.    It  has  undertaken  many  steps  towards  achieving this  objective.    A  series  of measures  have  been  taken  to  enable  the  expeditious  disposal  of  civil  cases.    These  include relevant amendments to the Civil Procedure Code to impose limit on the number of adjournments that may be granted to each party to three times and imposition of costs for adjournments; allowing service of summons using email, fax, speed post, courier services or directly through the plaintiff; providing for dismissal of suit where summons are not served in consequence of plaintiff's failure to pay costs; and limiting the time limit for filing of written statement by the defendant.

Necessary  amendments  have  been  made  to  Arbitration  and  Conciliation  Act,  1996  to make the award within 12 months, to resolve the dispute through fast track procedure, to ensure neutrality of arbitrators, and to restrict the term 'Public Policy of India' as a ground for challenging the  award.  Further,  in  March,  2018,  the  Union  Cabinet  has  approved  the  Arbitration  and Conciliation  (Amendment)  Bill,  2018  for  introduction  in  the  Parliament,  which  seeks  to  facilitate speedy appointment of arbitrators through designated arbitral institutions by the Supreme Court or High Courts.

With a view to address the issue of faster resolution of matters relating to commercial disputes, the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts  Act,  2015  was  enacted  and  commercial  courts  were  established  at  District  Levels  in  all jurisdictions, except in  the  territories  over  which  the  High  Courts  have  original  ordinary  civil jurisdiction i.e. the High Courts of Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta, Madras and of Himachal Pradesh.  The specified value of such commercial disputes to be adjudicated by the Commercial Courts or the Commercial Division of High Court, as the case may be, is presently Rs.1 crore.

Further,  in  March,  2018,  the  Union  Cabinet  has  approved  the  Commercial  Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2018 for introduction in the Parliament, which seeks to reduce the specified value of a commercial dispute to Rs.3 lakh from the present Rs.1 crore, and provide for establishment of Commercial Courts at district Judge level for the territories over which respective High Courts have ordinary original civil jurisdiction i.e. in the cities of Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and State of Himachal Pradesh.

In order to strengthen judicial infrastructure in districts through the Centrally Sponsored Scheme  (CSS)  for  Development  of  Infrastructure  Facilities  for  Judiciary  wherein  a  total  of  Rs. 6,100 crore has been released since 1993-94, out of which Rs. 2,655 crore (43.52%) has been released  since  April,  2014.    17,986  Court  Halls  and  14,986  Residential  Accommodations  have been  made  available  for  Judicial  Officers  of  District  and  Subordinate  Courts  as  on  date.    In addition, 3,151 Court Halls and 1,785 Residential Accommodations are under construction.  The Central  Government  has  approved  continuation  of  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  (CSS)  for Development of Infrastructure  Facilities  for  Judiciary  beyond  the  12 th Five  Year  Plan  period i.e. from 01.04.2017 to 31.03.2020 with an estimated outlay of Rs.3,320 crore.

Under  the  Phase-I  (2010-15)  of  the  eCourts  Mission  Mode  Project  undertaken  by  the Central Government, against a total target of computerisation of 14,249 courts, the computerisation of  13,672  district  and  subordinate  courts  has  been  achieved.    This  includes  the  installation  of hardware,  the  LAN  and  software.    This  has  enabled  the  courts  to  upload  the  case  status  and orders online.  Status of cases and copies of judgments have also been made available on the websites of the respective District and Subordinate Court Complexes  which  have been computerised.  Rs. 935.00 crore were allocated for Phase - I out of which Rs. 639.41 crore were utilized.

A budget outlay of Rs.1,670 crores was approved for the Phase II of the eCourts Mission Mode Project (from July, 2015 upto 31 March 2019).  The facilities of e-services such as cause lists,  case  status,  daily  orders,  judgments etc. are  being  provided  under  the  supervision  of  eCommittee of the Supreme Court and Computer Committees of respective High Courts.  A total of 16,089 district and subordinate courts have been computerised under the eCourts Project till date. Video Conferencing facility has also been opertionalised between 488 court complexes and 342 corresponding  prisons  during  the  period  2015-17.    The  National  Judicial  Data  Grid  (NJDG) developed under this project provides updated information on civil and criminal cases, including pending cases, for the computerised district / subordinate courts in the country.

Lok Adalats are playing an important role in disposing of pending cases in the country.  A total number of 140.64 lakh pending cases have been settled by National Lok Adalats during the last  three calendar years i.e. 2015, 2016 and 2017.  In addition, Regular Lok Adalats have also settled a total number of 83.60 lakh pending cases during the last three years i.e. 2015-16, 201617 and 2017-18 (upto December, 2017).

Lok Adalats are organised in accordance with the provisions of Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.  National and Regular Lok Adalats deal with pending cases.  National Lok Adalats are held on bi-monthly basis whereas Regular Lok Adalats are held on weekly / monthly basis on court holidays / weekends.  At present, Lok Adalats starting from Supreme Court to Taluk level courts are  held  in  the  existing  infrastructure  available  in  courts.  Permanent  Lok  Adalats,  as  provided under section 22 B of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, deal with pre-litigative cases and disputes related to public utility services on a regular basis.  The Lok Adalats are organised as per a pre-decided calendar throughout the year.

In the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices held in April, 2016, it was resolved  that  the  existing  judicial  infrastructure  of  the  state  judiciaries  be  utilized  for  setting  up Morning / Evening or Holiday Courts, as the case may be, utilizing the services of retired Judges. These courts may be constituted to deal with cases relating to petty offences, such as traffic cases and legal aid cases at the discretion of the High Court.  It was further resolved in the conference that  Chief  Ministers  and  Chief  Justices  shall,  for  their  respective  States,  decide  upon  norms  for payment of salaries and allowances to the retired Judges manning these courts.  These courts are held as per requirements in any state, and on orders of the related High Courts.

In  order  to  reduce  cases  pending  in  courts  for  over  10  years,  the  Government  has recently introduced Nyaya Mitra Scheme covering 227 selected districts of 16 States.  Under the Scheme,  retired  judicial  officers  are  engaged  and  designated  as  'Nyaya  Mitra'  to  facilitate expeditious disposal of the cases pending over 10 years.  In the first Phase, 15 Nyaya Mitra's have been engaged.

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Annexure - I Statement  referred  to  in  reply  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No. 6003 for Reply on 04 th April, 2018. Number of Pending Cases and Number of Pending cases for more than

## Ten Years in High Courts.

| Sr. No.             | High Court Name                         | Total Number of Cases Pending   | Total Number of Cases Pending   | Total Number of Cases Pending   | Total Number of Cases Pending   | Total Number of Cases Pending over Ten Years   | Total Number of Cases Pending over Ten Years   | Total Number of Cases Pending over Ten Years   | Total Number of Cases Pending over Ten Years   |
|---------------------|-----------------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
| Sr. No.             | High Court Name                         | Civil                           | Criminal                        | Writs                           | Total                           | Civil                                          | Criminal                                       | Writs                                          | Total                                          |
| 1.                  | Allahabad High Court                    | 153725                          | 301891                          | 250958                          | 706574                          | 65133                                          | 111711                                         | 90809                                          | 267653                                         |
| 2.                  | Calcutta High Court                     | 106717                          | 43284                           | 85203                           | 235204                          | 52034                                          | 16807                                          | 24410                                          | 93251                                          |
| 3.                  | Gauhati High Court                      | 12578                           | 6871                            | 15574                           | 35023                           | 231                                            | 33                                             | 27                                             | 291                                            |
| 4.                  | High Court of Bombay                    | 302656                          | 50704                           | 110714                          | 464074                          | 107608                                         | 15115                                          | 22702                                          | 145425                                         |
| 5.                  | High Court of Chhattisgarh              | 37253                           | 23899                           | 0                               | 61152                           | 3171                                           | 3840                                           | 0                                              | 7011                                           |
| 6.                  | High Court of Delhi                     | 29879                           | 18812                           | 21057                           | 69748                           | 3083                                           | 2638                                           | 3150                                           | 8871                                           |
| 7.                  | High Court of Gujarat                   | 43069                           | 32527                           | 34113                           | 109709                          | 7052                                           | 6934                                           | 3046                                           | 17032                                          |
| 8.                  | High Court of Himachal Pradesh          | 24505                           | 6059                            | 5419                            | 35983                           | 1238                                           | 224                                            | 77                                             | 1539                                           |
| 9.                  | High Court of Jammu and Kashmir         | 76393                           | 8274                            | 0                               | 84667                           | 8741                                           | 428                                            | 0                                              | 9169                                           |
| 10.                 | High Court of Jharkhand                 | 46314                           | 43685                           | 0                               | 89999                           | 4628                                           | 10853                                          | 0                                              | 15481                                          |
| 11.                 | High Court of Karnataka                 | 118262                          | 30943                           | 68113                           | 217318                          | 5314                                           | 15                                             | 891                                            | 6220                                           |
| 12.                 | High Court of Kerala                    | 79647                           | 38157                           | 65687                           | 183491                          | 10228                                          | 8434                                           | 1335                                           | 19997                                          |
| 13.                 | High Court of Madhya Pradesh            | 105694                          | 118437                          | 89236                           | 313367                          | 24724                                          | 29334                                          | 11544                                          | 65602                                          |
| 14.                 | High Court of Manipur                   | 15074                           | 1549                            | 0                               | 16623                           | 3874                                           | 345                                            | 0                                              | 4219                                           |
| 15.                 | High Court of Meghalaya                 | 316                             | 39                              | 621                             | 976                             | 0                                              | 0                                              | 1                                              | 1                                              |
| 16.                 | High Court of Punjab and Haryana        | 197422                          | 119379                          | 72702                           | 389503                          | 69677                                          | 16475                                          | 22339                                          | 108491                                         |
| 17.                 | High Court of Rajasthan                 | 84825                           | 71870                           | 103799                          | 260494                          | 23509                                          | 26151                                          | 20533                                          | 70193                                          |
| 18.                 | High Court of Sikkim                    | 54                              | 63                              | 104                             | 221                             |                                                |                                                |                                                |                                                |
| 19.                 | High Court of Tripura                   | 1025                            | 458                             | 1522                            | 3005                            | 1                                              | 0                                              | 2                                              | 3                                              |
| 20.                 | High Court of Uttarakhand               | 10258                           | 10267                           | 15470                           | 35995                           | 1754                                           | 1617                                           | 2520                                           | 5891                                           |
| 21.                 | Madras High Court                       | 128196                          | 42105                           | 144044                          | 314345                          | 30785                                          | 3078                                           | 17181                                          | 51044                                          |
| 22.                 | Orissa High Court                       | 43258                           | 44112                           | 83895                           | 171265                          | 14822                                          | 9409                                           | 14859                                          | 39090                                          |
| 23.                 | Patna High Court                        | 29615                           | 55796                           | 60979                           | 146390                          | 7201                                           | 13669                                          | 2739                                           | 23609                                          |
| 24.                 | Telangana and Andhra Pradesh High Court | 107804                          | 46325                           | 170410                          | 324539                          | 26191                                          | 2963                                           | 22431                                          | 51585                                          |
| Total Pending Cases | Total Pending Cases                     | 1754539                         | 1115506                         | 1399620                         | 4269665                         | 470999                                         | 280073                                         | 260596                                         | 1011668                                        |

Source: NJDG *************

Statement  referred  to  in  reply  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No. 6003 for Reply on 04 th April, 2018.

Number of Pending Cases and Number of Pending cases for more than Ten Years in District and Subordinate Courts.

| Sr. No.   | Name of State / UT     | Total Number of Cases Pending   | Total Number of Cases Pending   | Total Number of Cases Pending   | Number of Cases Pending over Ten Years   | Number of Cases Pending over Ten Years   | Number of Cases Pending over Ten Years   |
|-----------|------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| Sr. No.   | Name of State / UT     | Civil                           | Criminal                        | Total                           | Civil                                    | Criminal                                 | Total                                    |
| 1.        | Andaman And Nicobar    | 3296                            | 7889                            | 11185                           | 184                                      | 695                                      | 879                                      |
| 2.        | Andhra Pradesh         | 286741                          | 221744                          | 508485                          | 4882                                     | 1669                                     | 6551                                     |
| 3.        | Assam                  | 58507                           | 176217                          | 234724                          | 1044                                     | 1610                                     | 2654                                     |
| 4.        | Bihar                  | 254200                          | 1452554                         | 1706754                         | 37698                                    | 233619                                   | 271317                                   |
| 5.        | Chandigarh             | 16575                           | 23926                           | 40501                           | 23                                       | 23                                       | 46                                       |
| 6.        | Chhattisgarh           | 57533                           | 210446                          | 267979                          | 1940                                     | 3765                                     | 5705                                     |
| 7.        | Delhi                  | 182427                          | 466235                          | 648662                          | 1070                                     | 4176                                     | 5246                                     |
| 8.        | Diu and Daman          | 957                             | 850                             | 1807                            | 13                                       | 35                                       | 48                                       |
| 9.        | Dadra and Nagar Haveli | 1429                            | 2059                            | 3488                            | 33                                       | 299                                      | 332                                      |
| 10.       | Goa                    | 21674                           | 19444                           | 41118                           | 1799                                     | 86                                       | 1885                                     |
| 11.       | Gujarat                | 511161                          | 1041926                         | 1553087                         | 73011                                    | 158023                                   | 231034                                   |
| 12.       | Haryana                | 261858                          | 393228                          | 655086                          | 433                                      | 150                                      | 583                                      |
| 13.       | Himachal Pradesh       | 103579                          | 111947                          | 215526                          | 526                                      | 254                                      | 780                                      |
| 14.       | Jammu And Kashmir      | 56636                           | 62013                           | 118649                          | 2014                                     | 1946                                     | 3960                                     |
| 15.       | Jharkhand              | 55521                           | 276156                          | 331677                          | 4862                                     | 6671                                     | 11533                                    |
| 16.       | Karnataka              | 662992                          | 745295                          | 1408287                         | 17595                                    | 12108                                    | 29703                                    |
| 17.       | Kerala                 | 370434                          | 842991                          | 1213425                         | 4465                                     | 4063                                     | 8528                                     |
| 18.       | Madhya Pradesh         | 307400                          | 1048693                         | 1356093                         | 5258                                     | 9529                                     | 14787                                    |
| 19.       | Maharashtra            | 1137033                         | 2251492                         | 3388525                         | 57300                                    | 197130                                   | 254430                                   |
| 20.       | Manipur                | 5572                            | 4415                            | 9987                            | 100                                      | 356                                      | 456                                      |
| 21.       | Meghalaya              | 2102                            | 4792                            | 6894                            | 273                                      | 482                                      | 755                                      |
| 22.       | Mizoram                | 1432                            | 2268                            | 3700                            | 32                                       | 4                                        | 36                                       |
| 23.       | Odisa                  | 244798                          | 795867                          | 1040665                         | 23362                                    | 148607                                   | 171969                                   |
| 24.       | Punjab                 | 248272                          | 342136                          | 590408                          | 624                                      | 627                                      | 1251                                     |
| 25.       | Rajasthan              | 399917                          | 1051400                         | 1451317                         | 24804                                    | 47950                                    | 72754                                    |
| 26.       | Sikkim                 | 617                             | 917                             | 1534                            | 2                                        | 0                                        | 2                                        |
| 27.       | Tamil Nadu             | 583631                          | 437364                          | 1020995                         | 20280                                    | 19589                                    | 39869                                    |
| 28.       | Telangana              | 201641                          | 230867                          | 432508                          | 10628                                    | 4634                                     | 15262                                    |
| 29.       | Tripura                | 8069                            | 16570                           | 24639                           | 103                                      | 2706                                     | 2809                                     |
| 30.       | Uttar Pradesh          | 1388759                         | 4317273                         | 5706032                         | 232569                                   | 961872                                   | 1194441                                  |
| 31.       | Uttarakhand            | 33092                           | 181586                          | 214678                          | 985                                      | 3402                                     | 4387                                     |
| 32.       | West Bengal            | 477396                          | 1334009                         | 1811405                         | 53013                                    | 172943                                   | 225956                                   |
| Total     | Pending Cases          | 7945251                         | 18074569                        | 26019820                        | 580925                                   | 1999023                                  | 2579948                                  |

Source: NJDG

Data in respect of the States of Arunachal Pradesh & Nagaland and Union Territories of Lakshadweep & Puducherry are not available on the website of National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG).

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