Lok Sabha Question No. 5139 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-04-05
Subject: Oldest Pending Case
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: ANUPAM HAZRA

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5139

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 05 TH  APRIL, 2017

## Oldest Pending Case

## 5139. DR. ANUPAM HAZRA

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

- (a) the details of the oldest criminal and civil cases pending in the Supreme Court and High Courts of the country; and
- (b) the steps taken by Government to improve the condition of these backlog in courts?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR LAW AND JUSTICE AND ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI P. P. CHAUDHARY)

(a):  The  data  on  pendency  of  cases  in  courts  including  pendency  of  oldest  civil  and criminal  cases  in  courts  are  maintained  by  Supreme  Court  and  High  Courts.    As  per information made available by Supreme Court, the oldest criminal matter pending in the Supreme Court is Criminal Appeal No. 39 of 1991 and the oldest civil matter pending the Supreme Court is Writ Petition (Civil) No. 7672 of 1982 as on 31.03.2017.  The data on  pendency  of  oldest  civil  and  criminal  cases  as  on  30.06.2016  was  collected  from High Courts.  Based on the information received from High Courts, details of oldest civil and criminal cases pending in High Courts are given in a Statement at Annexure.

(b)  :  Disposal  of  cases  pending  in  courts  is  within  the  domain  of  Judiciary.    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.

During the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers of States and Chief Justices of the High  Courts  held  at  New  Delhi  in  April  2015,  reduction  of  pendency  and  backlog  of cases in courts emerged as an area which required focused attention at the High Court level.  The Chief Justices of the High Courts in the Conference held on 03 rd and 04 th April  2015 have resolved that each High Court shall establish an Arrears Committee, which would go into the factors responsible for the delays and prepare an action plan to clear the backlog of cases pending for more than five years.  It was further resolved in the Conference of Chief Justices of the High Courts held in April, 2016, that in order to ensure  expeditious  disposal  of  cases  pertaining  to  women,  marginalized  segments, senior  citizens  and  differently-abled,  steps  be  taken  to  (a)  prioritize  the  disposal  of cases falling in these categories within the existing court system; (b) an endeavour be made to revisit the cadre strength of subordinate courts and, where necessary, create additional  courts  to  deal  with  such  cases.    As  per  information  available,  Arrears Committees have been set up by the High Courts.

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 lakh 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 curtailing 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  have  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  Strength of Judges in  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 track  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.
- (xviii)  The Government vide a letter dated 7 th Feb 2017, addressed the Chief Justices of the all High Courts has requested to speed up the process of implementation of e-courts project  for actualising the objectives of the  Project.

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## Statement  referred  to  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.  5139  for  reply  on 05.04.2017

## Oldest Civil and Criminal Cases pending in High Courts as on 30.06.2016

| Sr. No.   | Name of High Court   | Oldest case pending since the year   | Oldest case pending since the year   |
|-----------|----------------------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| Sr. No.   | Name of High Court   | Civil                                | Criminal                             |
| 1         | Allahabad            | 1971                                 | 1976                                 |
| 2         | Andhra Pradesh       | 1985                                 | 2001                                 |
| 3         | Bombay               | 1980                                 | 1991                                 |
| 4         | Chhattisgarh         | 1989                                 | 1994                                 |
| 5         | Delhi                | 1968                                 | 1994                                 |
| 6         | Gauhati              | 1998                                 | 2003                                 |
| 7         | Gujarat              | 1977                                 | 1986                                 |
| 8         | Himachal Pradesh     | 1991                                 | 2000                                 |
| 9         | Jammu and Kashmir    | 1979                                 | 1976                                 |
| 10        | Jharkhand            | 1958                                 | 1990                                 |
| 11        | Karnataka            | 1987                                 | 1997                                 |
| 12        | Kerala               | 1981                                 | 1996                                 |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh       | 1972                                 | 1992                                 |
| 14        | Madras               | 1986                                 | 1997                                 |
| 15        | Manipur              | 1999                                 | 2008                                 |
| 16        | Meghalaya            | 2008                                 | 2010                                 |
| 17        | Orissa               | 1961                                 | 1987                                 |
| 18        | Patna                | 1967                                 | 1980                                 |
| 19        | Punjab & Haryana     | 1971                                 | 1985                                 |
| 20        | Rajasthan            | 1956                                 | 1981                                 |
| 21        | Sikkim               | 2008                                 | 2015                                 |
| 22        | Tripura              | 2002                                 | 2009                                 |
| 23        | Uttarakhand          | 2011                                 | 2015                                 |

*Information pertaining to Calcutta High Court is not available.

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