Lok Sabha Question No. 206 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-18
Subject: Review of Pending Cases
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: TAMRADHWAJ SAHU

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †206

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 18 TH  JULY, 2018.

## Review of Pending Cases

## †206. SHRI TAMRADHWAJ SAHU:

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

- (a) whether the Government has ordered any State-wise review of the pending files of cases in the courts during the last three years;
- (b) if so, the State-wise details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government is willing to accept that the pendency of cases is more in India compared to other countries;
- (d) if so, the reasons therefor; and
- (e)  whether  the  shortage  of  judges  exist  in  all  the  courts  and  if  so,  the  details thereof, State-wise and the steps being taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

(a) and (b): No, Madam. However, 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  facilitate    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)  and  (d)  :  Courts  in  various  countries  operate  in  varying  conditions  on account of differences in availability of infrastructure facilities, use of technology,  number  of  judicial  officers  per  million  of  population  (judgepopulation  ratio),  docket  ratio  (population  case  filing  ratio),  provisions  of substantive laws and procedures in courts etc .  Therefore, in the absence of commonality  between  the  circumstances  in  India  and  other  countries,  a comparison of pendency of cases in India vis-à-vis other  countries may not be feasible.

(e)  :  The  details  of  sanctioned  and  working  strength  of  Judges  in  Supreme Court and High Courts as on 12.07.2018 are given below:

| Name of the Court   | Sanctioned Strength of Judges   |   Working Strength of Judges |   Vacancy |
|---------------------|---------------------------------|------------------------------|-----------|
| Supreme Court       | 31                              |                           23 |         8 |
| High Courts         | 1,079                           |                          662 |       417 |

Filling  up  of  vacancies  in  the  Supreme  Court  and  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  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.

As regards Judicial Officers in subordinate courts, State-wise details of sanctioned / working strength and vacancy position of Judicial Officers in District and Subordinate Courts are given in the Statement at Annexure.

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 in  other  states,  the  High  Courts  do  it  in  consultation  with  the  State  Public Service Commissions.

Department  of  Justice,  Ministry  of  Law  and  Justice,  Government  of India  had written in March, 2018 to the Registrar Generals of High Courts as well  as  State  Governments  to  share  the  action  plan  for  2018-19  to  fill  up vacancies in subordinate judiciary. All the High Courts have shared the action plan that  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.

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## Annexure

## Statement referred to in reply to part (e) Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 206 to be answered on 18.7.2018 regarding 'Vacancies in Judiciary'

Sanctioned  /  Working  Strength  and  Vacancies  of  Judicial  Officers  in  District  and Subordinate Courts.

(As on 31.03.2018)

| Sr. No.   | Name of State / UT                      |   Sanctioned Strength |   Working Strength |   Vacancy |
|-----------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------|--------------------|-----------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh and Telangana            |                   987 |                912 |        75 |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh                       |                    28 |                 17 |        11 |
| 3         | Assam                                   |                   430 |                350 |        80 |
| 4         | Bihar                                   |                  1837 |               1153 |       684 |
| 5         | Chandigarh                              |                    30 |                 30 |         0 |
| 6         | Chhattisgarh                            |                   399 |                376 |        23 |
| 7         | Dadra & Nagar Haveili and Daman and Diu |                     7 |                  6 |         1 |
| 8         | Delhi                                   |                   799 |                518 |       281 |
| 9         | Goa                                     |                    55 |                 44 |        11 |
| 10        | Gujarat                                 |                  1496 |               1116 |       380 |
| 11        | Haryana                                 |                   645 |                496 |       149 |
| 12        | Himachal Pradesh                        |                   159 |                148 |        11 |
| 13        | Jammu & Kashmir                         |                   261 |                224 |        37 |
| 14        | Jharkhand                               |                   672 |                462 |       210 |
| 15        | Karnataka                               |                  1303 |               1061 |       242 |
| 16        | Kerala                                  |                   536 |                479 |        57 |
| 17        | Lakshadweep                             |                     3 |                  2 |         1 |
| 18        | Madhya Pradesh                          |                  2021 |               1315 |       706 |
| 19        | Maharashtra                             |                  2097 |               1914 |       183 |
| 20        | Manipur                                 |                    50 |                 39 |        11 |
| 21        | Meghalaya                               |                    97 |                 39 |        58 |
| 22        | Mizoram                                 |                    67 |                 46 |        21 |
| 23        | Nagaland                                |                    33 |                 21 |        12 |
| 24        | Orissa                                  |                   862 |                649 |       213 |
| 25        | Puducherry                              |                    26 |                 12 |        14 |
| 26        | Punjab                                  |                   674 |                538 |       136 |
| 27        | Rajasthan                               |                  1237 |               1121 |       116 |
| 28        | Sikkim                                  |                    23 |                 19 |         4 |
| 29        | Tamilnadu                               |                  1121 |                913 |       208 |
| 30        | Tripura                                 |                   107 |                 75 |        32 |
| 31        | Uttar Pradesh                           |                  3224 |               1864 |      1360 |
| 32        | Uttarakhand                             |                   292 |                231 |        61 |
| 33        | West Bengal & A & N                     |                   967 |                919 |        48 |
|           | Total                                   |                 22545 |              17109 |      5436 |

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