Lok Sabha Question No. 43 (STARRED), answered on 2019-11-20
Subject: Pending Cases in Subordinate Courts
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Kunwar Danish Ali

- (b)

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

STARRED QUESTION NO. *43

TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 20 th  NOVEMBER, 2018.

Pending Cases in Subordinate Courts

## *43. SHRI KUNWAR DANISH ALI:

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

- (a) whether  more  than  seven  million  cases  are  pending  in  the
- subordinate courts of Uttar Pradesh;
- if so, the details thereof and the reasons for such huge pendency;
- (c) whether poor infrastructure is one of the main reasons therefor and if so, the details thereof along with the efforts made by the Government so far to improve the infrastructure of subordinate courts in the State;
- (d) the  details  of  other  measures  proposed  to  be  initiated  by  the Government to speed up disposal of cases in subordinate courts in the country including Uttar Pradesh; and
- (e) whether the Government is considering to agree to the just and old demand of a High Court bench in Uttar Pradesh and if so,
- the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

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

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (e) of LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *43 FOR ANSWER ON 20 TH  NOVEMBER, 2019.

(a)  and  (b):  As  per  information  available  on  the  National  Judicial  Data Grid (as on 14 th November, 2019), there are 75,01,283 cases pending in the  District  and  Subordinate  Courts  of  Uttar  Pradesh.  The  district-wise number  of  cases  pending  in  the  State  of  Uttar  Pradesh  is  given  in  the Annexure .

As regards reasons for pendency of cases in courts, it is stated that timely disposal of cases in courts depends on several factors which, interalia, 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 to monitor, track and bunch cases for hearing.

(c):  It  is  the  primary  responsibility  of  the  State  Governments  to provide Judicial  Infrastructure  /  Court  Rooms  for  High  Courts  and  District  / Subordinate Courts. To supplement these efforts, the Union Government is  implementing  a  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  for  Development  of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary by providing financial assistance to State Governments / UTs in the prescribed fund sharing pattern between Centre and States.  The Scheme is being implemented since 1993-94.  It covers the construction of court halls and court complexes and residential accommodations for Judicial Officers of District and Subordinate Judiciary.  In  the  case  of  Uttar  Pradesh,  a  sum  of Rs.  1101.60  crore has been  sanctioned  till  15/11/19  since  the  inception  of  the  Scheme,  out  of which  Rs.  550.31  crore  has  been  sanctioned  since  2014-15  (which  is around 50% of  the  total  release  under  the  Scheme).  During  the  current financial year 2019-20, a sum of Rs. 121.94 crore has been sanctioned to the  State  of  Uttar  Pradesh.  Under  this  scheme,  in  the  State  of  Uttar Pradesh,  2278  court  halls  and  1937  residential  units  have  been  made available  for  Judicial  Officers  of  District  and  Subordinate  Courts  as  on 15/11/19  against  the  working  strength  of  2012  Judicial  Officers.  In addition, 332 court halls and 401 residential units are under construction in Uttar Pradesh.

In respect of all States / UTs, a sum of Rs. 7453.10 crore has been sanctioned till 15/11/19 since the inception of the Scheme, out of which Rs.  4008.80  crore  has  been  sanctioned  since  2014-15  (which  is  around 54% of the total release under the Scheme). During the current financial year 2019-20, a sum of Rs. 702.86 crore, out of the allocated budget of Rs. 710.00 crore, has already been sanctioned to States/UTs. Under this scheme, 19,414 court halls and 17,103 residential units have been made available  for  Judicial  Officers  of  District  and  Subordinate  Courts  as  on 15/11/19  against  the  working  strength  of  17,342  Judicial  Officers.  In addition, 2,822 court halls and 1,869 residential units are under construction.

(d)  The  Government  is  committed  to  speedy  disposal  of  cases  and reduction in pendency of cases to improve access to justice in line with the mandate under Article 39A of the Constitution. The Union Government  has  taken  several  initiatives  to  provide  an  ecosystem  for faster disposal of cases by the judiciary. The National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms established in 2011 by the Government has adopted a coordinated approach to effect for phased liquidation of arrears and  pendency  at  various  levels  of  judicial  administration  through  many strategic  initiatives,  including  improving  infrastructure  [court  halls  and residential units] for Judicial Officers of District and Subordinate Courts, leveraging Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for better justice  delivery,  filling  up  of  vacant  positions  of  Judges  in  High  Courts and Supreme Court, reduction in pendency through follow up by Arrears Committees at District, High Court and Supreme Court level, emphasis on Alternate  Dispute  Resolution  (ADR)  and  initiatives  to  fast  track  special type of cases. In addition, all stakeholders including Judicial Officers can access information relating to judicial proceedings/decisions of computerized  District  &  Subordinate  Courts  and  High  Courts  on  the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG).   Currently  litigants  can  access  case status  information  in  respect  of  over  12.23  crore  pending  and  disposed cases  and  more  than  10.26  crore  orders  /  judgments  pertaining  to  these computerized courts from NJDG. Also, Pending cases are considered and disposed in Lok  Adalats  conducted  under  National  Legal Services Authority  (NALSA).  172.60  lakh  pending  cases  have  been  settled  in National Lok Adalat from 2015 till date while 88.40 lakh pending cases have been settled in Regular Lok Adalats during 2015-16 to June, 2019.

(e):  The  High  Court  Benches  are  established  in  accordance  with  the recommendations made by the Jaswant Singh Commission and judgment pronounced  by  the  Apex  Court  in  W.P.(C)  No.379  of  2000  and  after receipt  and  due  consideration  of  a  complete  proposal  from  the  State Government, which incorporates  readiness  to  provide  infrastructure  and meet the related expenditure, along with the consent of the Chief Justice of the  concerned  High Court who  is responsible for day to day administration of the High Court and its Bench. The proposal should also have  the  consent  of  the  Governor  of  the  concerned  State.  No  proposal (complete in all respects) has been received from the State Government of Uttar  Pradesh  to  establish  a  Bench  of  Allahabad  High  Court  in  Uttar Pradesh.

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## District-wise number of cases pending in the State of Uttar Pradesh

|   S. No. | State               |   Pendency of cases |
|----------|---------------------|---------------------|
|        1 | Agra                |              206069 |
|        2 | Aligarh             |              142504 |
|        3 | Allahabad           |              275404 |
|        4 | Ambedkar Nagar      |               64944 |
|        5 | Auraiya             |               47694 |
|        6 | Azamgarh            |              150224 |
|        7 | Baghpat             |               45947 |
|        8 | Bahraich            |              120570 |
|        9 | Ballia              |               96213 |
|       10 | BalramPur           |               56578 |
|       11 | Banda               |               51319 |
|       12 | Barabanki           |               88927 |
|       13 | Bareilly            |              162999 |
|       14 | Basti               |               76421 |
|       15 | Bhadohi SR Naga     |               40325 |
|       16 | Bijnor              |               93936 |
|       17 | Badaun              |               99990 |
|       18 | Bulandshahr         |              126076 |
|       19 | Chandouli           |               55889 |
|       20 | Chitrakoot          |               20131 |
|       21 | Deoria              |              120015 |
|       22 | Etah                |               64278 |
|       23 | Etawah              |               53397 |
|       24 | Faizabad            |              120577 |
|       25 | Farrukhabad         |               81037 |
|       26 | Fatehpur            |               88331 |
|       27 | Firozabad           |              114466 |
|       28 | Gautam Buddha Nagar |              163268 |
|       29 | Ghaziabad           |              205128 |
|       30 | Ghazipur            |              103668 |
|       31 | Gonda               |              112391 |
|       32 | Gorakhpur           |              195706 |
|       33 | Hamirpur            |               29379 |
|       34 | Hapur               |               53068 |
|       35 | Hardoi              |              102363 |
|       36 | Hathras             |               47289 |
|       37 | Jalaun              |               54612 |
|       38 | Jaunpur             |              173406 |

| 39   | Jhansi               | 84604     |
|------|----------------------|-----------|
| 40   | Jyotiba Phule Nagar  | 54774     |
| 41   | Kannauj              | 55300     |
| 42   | Kanpur Dehat         | 91989     |
| 43   | Kanpur Nagar         | 271696    |
| 44   | Kanshi Ram Nagar     | 38389     |
| 45   | Kaushambi            | 61876     |
| 46   | Kushinagar           | 129239    |
| 47   | Lakhimpur            | 123501    |
| 48   | Lalitpur             | 48996     |
| 49   | Lucknow              | 322926    |
| 50   | Maharajganj          | 69207     |
| 51   | Mahoba               | 21861     |
| 52   | Mainpuri             | 66942     |
| 53   | Mathura              | 122768    |
| 54   | Mau                  | 88230     |
| 55   | Meerut               | 195551    |
| 56   | Mirzapur             | 78301     |
| 57   | Moradabad            | 101159    |
| 58   | Muzaffarnagar        | 114660    |
| 59   | Pilibhit             | 59262     |
| 60   | Pratapgarh           | 145601    |
| 61   | Raebareli            | 108604    |
| 62   | Rampur               | 58585     |
| 63   | Saharanpur           | 130613    |
| 64   | Sambhal at Chandausi | 59160     |
| 65   | Santkabir Nagar      | 48533     |
| 66   | Shahjahanpur         | 98007     |
| 67   | Shamli               | 35360     |
| 68   | Shravasti            | 27296     |
| 69   | Siddharthnagar       | 69758     |
| 70   | Sitapur              | 135703    |
| 71   | Sonbhadra            | 58019     |
| 72   | Sultanpur            | 163219    |
| 73   | Unnao                | 92587     |
| 74   | Varanasi             | 164468    |
|      | Total                | 75,01,283 |

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