Lok Sabha Question No. 1198 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-25
Subject: Delivery of Speedy Justice
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: DODDAALAHALLI KEMPEGOWDA SURESH, PRATAPRAO GANPATRAO JADHAV, RAMESH CHANDER KAUSHIK, BHARATI DHIRUBHAI SHIYAL, DEVUSINH JESINGBHAI CHAUHAN, BHAIRON PRASAD MISHRA, B.N. CHANDRAPPA, K.R.P. PRABAKARAN, ALOK SANJAR, NALIN KUMAR KATEEL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1198

TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 25 TH  JULY, 2018.

## Delivery of Speedy Justice

## 1198. SHRI D. K. SURESH:

SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV:

SHRI RAMESH CHANDER KAUSHIK:

DR. BHARATIBEN D. SHYAL:

SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN:

SHRI BHAIRON PRASAD MISHRA:

SHRI B.N. CHANDRAPPA:

SHRI K.R.P. PRABAKARAN:

SHRI ALOK SANJAR:

SHRI NALIN KUMAR KATEEL:

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

- (a) the details of the number of civil and criminal cases pending in various courts as on date, State, court and category-wise;
- (b) whether the Government has made any arrangements or plans to expedite their disposal and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) the total number of judges appointed during the last three years, year and courtwise;
- (d) whether the Government proposes to stipulate a time period for the disposal of criminal and civil cases in the High Court and various other courts of the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether the process of dispensing justice in time is getting affected due to the shortage  of  judges  and  infrastructural  facilities  in  the  country  and  if  so,  the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government in this regard so far; and
- (f) whether the Government has set up any task force to deal with huge pendency of cases or fixed the accountability on someone in this regard and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR LAW AND JUSTICE AND CORPORATE AFFAIRS (SHRI P. P. CHAUDHARY)

(a):  Data  on  pendency  of  cases  in  the  Supreme  Court  and  High  Courts  is maintained by the Supreme Court and High Courts respectively. As per latest information  available  on  the  website  of  Supreme  Court  of  India,  the  total number of pending cases in the Supreme Court is 54,013.  As per information available on the web-portal of National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), 43.48 lakh cases are pending in various High Courts as on date. High Court-wise details of pending cases are given in a Statement at Annexure - I . 2.75 crore cases are pending  in  various  District  and  Subordinate  courts  of  the  country (excluding State / Union Territories of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Lakshadweep  and  Puducherry)  as  on  date.    State  /  UT  -  wise  details  of pending cases are given in a Statement at Annexure -II .

(b):  Disposal  of  cases  pending  in  various  courts  is  within  the  domain  of judiciary. In pursuance of resolution passed in the Chief Justices' Conference held  in  April,  2015,  all  the  High  Courts  have  set  up  Arrears  Committees  to take necessary steps for clearing the backlog of pending cases. The Arrears Committees  have  chalked  out  Action  Plans  to  reduce  pendencies  in  their respective jurisdictions. The Supreme Court has also constituted an Arrears Committee 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.  Further, the Central Government has taken several steps to provide an ecosystem for faster disposal of cases by the judiciary.  The Government has  set  up  a  National  Mission  for  Justice  Delivery  and  Legal  Reforms  to achieve this objective. The Mission has adopted a coordinated approach for improving  the  working  condition  of  the  district  and  subordinate  judiciary through  various  strategic  initiatives,  including  improving  infrastructure  for courts, leveraging information, communication and technology (ICT) for better justice delivery, and filling up of vacant positions of judges in High Courts and Supreme Court.

(c): The  details regarding total  number of judges appointed during the last three years, year and court-wise in the Supreme Court and High Courts are given in a Statement at Annexure -III .

(d):  Disposal  of  cases  pending  in  various  courts  is  within  the  domain  of judiciary.

(e): Timely  disposal  of  cases  in  courts  depends  on  several  factors  which, inter-alia , include availability of adequate number of judges, supporting court staff  and  physical  infrastructure,  complexity  of  facts  involved,  nature  of evidence,  co-operation  of  stake  holders viz .  bar,  investigation  agencies, witnesses and litigants and proper application of rules and procedures.

Filling up of vacancies in the Supreme Court and the High courts is a continuous and  collaborative process, between  the  Executive  and  the Judiciary.  It  requires  consultation  and  approval  from  various  Constitutional Authorities. Initiation  of  proposal  for  appointment of Judges in the Supreme Court  vests  with  the  Chief  Justice  of  India,  while  initiation  of  proposals  for appointment of Judges in the High Courts vests with the Chief Justice of the concerned  High  Court.  While  every  effort  is  made  to  fill  up  the  existing vacancies  expeditiously,  vacancies  in  High  Courts  do  keep  on  arising  on account  of  retirement,  resignation  or  elevation  of  Judges  and  also  the increase  in  the  strength  of  Judges.  The  total  number  of  judges  appointed during  the  last  three  years,  year  and  court-wise  in  the  Supreme  Court  and High Courts is given in reply to part (c) above.

As per the Constitutional framework, the selection and appointment of judges in subordinate courts is the responsibility of the High Courts and State Governments  concerned.  In  so  far  as  recruitment  of  judicial  officers  in  the States is concerned, respective High Courts do it in certain States, whereas the High Courts do it in consultation with the State Public Service Commissions  in  other  States.  Department  of  Justice  had  written  in  March, 2018 to the Registrar General of High courts as well as State Governments to share the action plan for 2018-19 to fill up vacancies in subordinate judiciary. All High Courts have shared the action plan they propose to follow to fill up vacancies in subordinate judiciary in 2018-19. Sanctioned strength of Judicial Officers in District and Subordinate Courts has increased from 19,518 as on 31.12.2013 to 22,545 as on 31.03.2018. Working strength of Judicial Officers in District and  Subordinate  Courts  has  increased  from  15,115  as  on 31.12.2013 to 17,109 as on 31.03.2018.

Further,  in  order  to  strengthen  judicial  infrastructure  in  districts,  the Central  Government  has  approved  continuation  of  the  Centrally  Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary, being implemented since 1993-94, 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 this scheme, a total of Rs. 6292.44 crore has been released since 1993-94, out of which Rs. 2848.14 crore (45.26%) has been released since April, 2014.

18,444  Court  Halls  and  15,853  Residential  Accommodations  have  been made available for Judicial Officers of District and Subordinate Courts as on date. In addition,  2,709 Court Halls and 1,472 Residential Accommodations are under construction.

(f): In  pursuance  of  resolution  passed  in  the  Chief  Justices'  Conference held  in  April,  2015,  all  the  High  Courts  have  set  up  Arrears  Committees  to take necessary steps for clearing the backlog of pending cases. The Arrears Committees  have  chalked  out  Action  Plans  to  reduce  pendencies  in  their respective jurisdictions. The Supreme Court has also constituted an Arrears Committee 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.

************

Annexure - I Statement referred to Lok Sabha Un-starred Question No. 1198 for reply on 25.07.2018

## Details of cases pending in High Courts

| S. No.   | High Court Name                       |   Civil |   Criminal |   Writs |   Total |
|----------|---------------------------------------|---------|------------|---------|---------|
| 1        | Allahabad High Court                  |  155237 |     308292 |  247945 |  711474 |
| 2        | Calcutta High Court                   |  107960 |      42241 |   84634 |  234835 |
| 3        | Gauhati High Court                    |   14019 |       7374 |   16005 |   37398 |
| 4        | High Court of Bombay                  |  302656 |      50704 |  110714 |  464074 |
| 5        | High Court of Chhattisgarh            |   18033 |      24354 |   20178 |   62565 |
| 6        | High Court of Delhi                   |   30442 |      19591 |   22733 |   72766 |
| 7        | High Court of Gujarat                 |   36136 |      35012 |   38270 |  109418 |
| 8        | High Court of Himachal Pradesh        |   25758 |       6426 |    5853 |   38037 |
| 9        | High Court of Jammu and Kashmir       |   76638 |       8452 |       0 |   85090 |
| 10       | High Court of Jharkhand               |   15220 |      43832 |   29975 |   89027 |
| 11       | High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad |  131580 |      50826 |  171229 |  353635 |
| 12       | High Court of Karnataka               |  122764 |      31970 |   69925 |  224659 |
| 13       | High Court of Kerala                  |   81427 |      39963 |   68150 |  189540 |
| 14       | High Court of Madhya Pradesh          |  107763 |     122293 |   91763 |  321819 |
| 15       | High Court of Manipur                 |   14183 |       1552 |       0 |   15735 |
| 16       | High Court of Meghalaya               |     323 |         48 |     655 |    1026 |
| 17       | High Court of Punjab and Haryana      |  201456 |     125485 |   75341 |  402282 |
| 18       | High Court of Rajasthan               |   86479 |      72261 |  106138 |  264878 |
| 19       | High Court of Sikkim                  |      59 |         64 |     117 |     240 |
| 20       | High Court of Tripura                 |     939 |        450 |    1625 |    3014 |
| 21       | High Court of Uttarakhand             |   10027 |      10618 |   14776 |   35421 |
| 22       | Madras High Court                     |  128196 |      42105 |  144044 |  314345 |
| 23       | Orissa High Court                     |   42926 |      41403 |   83059 |  167388 |
| 24       | Patna High Court                      |   30658 |      57640 |   61556 |  149854 |
|          | Total Pending Cases                   | 1740879 |    1142956 | 1464685 | 4348520 |

*********

Source : National Judicial Data Grid.

## Statement referred to Lok Sabha Un-starred Question No. 1198 for reply on 25.07.2018 Details of cases pending in District and Subordinate Courts

|    | State                          |   Civil |   Criminal |    Total |
|----|--------------------------------|---------|------------|----------|
| 1  | Andaman and Nicobar            |    3296 |       7889 |    11185 |
| 2  | Andhra Pradesh                 |  287927 |     223174 |   511101 |
| 3  | Assam                          |   61284 |     209067 |   270351 |
| 4  | Bihar                          |  259069 |    1477027 |  1736096 |
| 5  | Chandigarh                     |   16579 |      24521 |    41100 |
| 6  | Chhattisgarh                   |   57137 |     208654 |   265791 |
| 7  | Delhi                          |  186821 |     494501 |   681322 |
| 8  | Diu and Daman                  |    1042 |        867 |     1909 |
| 9  | Dadra & Nagar Haveli t Silvasa |    1451 |       2045 |     3496 |
| 10 | Goa                            |   21673 |      20827 |    42500 |
| 11 | Gujarat                        |  508751 |    1099682 |  1608433 |
| 12 | Haryana                        |  273527 |     395403 |   668930 |
| 13 | Himachal Pradesh               |  112327 |     127024 |   239351 |
| 14 | Jammu and Kashmir              |   62822 |      75147 |   137969 |
| 15 | Jharkhand                      |   57626 |     288891 |   346517 |
| 16 | Karnataka                      |  690758 |     775626 |  1466384 |
| 17 | Kerala                         |  385566 |     869204 |  1254770 |
| 18 | Madhya Pradesh                 |  310405 |    1059926 |  1370331 |
| 19 | Maharashtra                    | 1152230 |    2272750 |  3424980 |
| 20 | Manipur                        |    5831 |       4218 |    10049 |
| 21 | Meghalaya                      |    2040 |       4840 |     6880 |
| 22 | Mizoram                        |    1569 |       2464 |     4033 |
| 23 | Orissa                         |  246773 |     828347 |  1075120 |
| 24 | Punjab                         |  255658 |     354444 |   610102 |
| 25 | Rajasthan                      |  397705 |    1053170 |  1450875 |
| 26 | Sikkim                         |     592 |        880 |     1472 |
| 27 | Tamil Nadu                     |  610667 |     462119 |  1072786 |
| 28 | Telangana                      |  215779 |     270064 |   485843 |
| 29 | Tripura                        |    7890 |      16257 |    24147 |
| 30 | Uttar Pradesh                  | 1618730 |    4997036 |  6615766 |
| 31 | Uttarakhand                    |   33641 |     191652 |   225293 |
| 32 | West Bengal                    |  484068 |    1389169 |  1873237 |
|    | Total Pending Cases            | 8331234 |   19206885 | 27538119 |

*********

Source : National Judicial Data Grid.

Annexure - III

Statement referred to Lok Sabha Un-starred Question No. 1198 for reply on 25.07.2018 Details of number of judges appointed during the last three years, year and courtwise in the Supreme Court and High Courts

## A. Supreme Court:

|   Fresh appointment made during 01.01.2016 to 31.12.2016 |   Fresh appointment made during 01.01.2017 to 31.12.2017 |   Fresh appointment made during 01.01.2018 to 20.07.2018 |
|----------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                       04 |                                                       05 |                                                       01 |

## B. High Courts:

| Sl. No.   | Name of the High Court     | Fresh appointment made during 1.1.2016 to 31.12.2016   | Fresh appointment made during 1.1.2017 to 31.12.2017   | Fresh appointment made during 1.1.2018 to 20.07.2018   |
|-----------|----------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| 1         | Allahabad                  | 20                                                     | 31                                                     | --                                                     |
| 2         | Telangana & Andhra Pradesh | 01                                                     | 10                                                     | --                                                     |
| 3         | Bombay                     | 06                                                     | 14                                                     | --                                                     |
| 4         | Calcutta                   | 01                                                     | 06                                                     | 07                                                     |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh               | 03                                                     | 03                                                     | 04                                                     |
| 6         | Delhi                      | 05                                                     | 04                                                     | --                                                     |
| 7         | Gauhati                    | 05                                                     | 02                                                     | --                                                     |
| 8         | Gujarat                    | 05                                                     | --                                                     | --                                                     |
| 9         | Himachal Pradesh           | 04                                                     | --                                                     | --                                                     |
| 10        | Jammu & Kashmir            | --                                                     | 03                                                     | --                                                     |
| 11        | Jharkhand                  | 04                                                     | 02                                                     | 03                                                     |
| 12        | Karnataka                  | 05                                                     | 02                                                     | 07                                                     |
| 13        | Kerala                     | 05                                                     | 03                                                     | --                                                     |
| 14        | Madhya Pradesh             | 18                                                     | --                                                     | 05                                                     |
| 15        | Madras                     | 25                                                     | 12                                                     | 07                                                     |
| 16        | Manipur                    | 01                                                     | --                                                     | --                                                     |
| 17        | Meghalaya                  | --                                                     | --                                                     | --                                                     |
| 18        | Orissa                     | --                                                     | --                                                     | --                                                     |
| 19        | Patna                      | 06                                                     | 06                                                     | --                                                     |
| 20        | Punjab& Haryana            | 01                                                     | 08                                                     | --                                                     |
| 21        | Rajasthan                  | 11                                                     | 05                                                     | --                                                     |
| 22        | Sikkim                     | --                                                     | 01                                                     | --                                                     |
| 23        | Tripura                    | --                                                     | --                                                     | 01                                                     |
| 24        | Uttarakhand                | --                                                     | 03                                                     | --                                                     |
|           | Total                      | 126                                                    | 115                                                    | 34                                                     |

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