Lok Sabha Question No. 1600 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-27
Subject: Pending Court Cases
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Pinaki Misra

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

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1600 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 27 TH  NOVEMBER, 2019.

## Pending  Court Cases

1600. SHRI PINAKI MISRA:

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

- (a)  the steps that are being taken to counter the huge pendency of cases in the judicial system;
- (b)  whether  any  form  of  digitization  or  internet  is  being  used  to  hasten  the process of filing of cases and if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  whether  any  Alternate  Dispute  Resolution  methods  are  being  promoted  to increase  out  of  court  settlements  to  decrease  the  workload  of  the  court,  if any, the details thereof; and
- (d) whether any steps are being taken to fill the vacancies at various levels of the judicial  system  to  boost  the  judicial  strength  of  the  country  and  if  so,  the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) As per the information available, the number of pending cases in the Supreme Court, High Courts and District & Subordinate Courts is as under:

|                               | Pending Cases    | Pending Cases    |
|-------------------------------|------------------|------------------|
|                               | As on 31.12.2014 | As on 01.11.2019 |
| Supreme Court                 | 62,791           | 59,867           |
|                               | As on 31.12.2014 | As on 14.11.2019 |
| High Courts                   | 41.53 lakh       | 44.75 lakh       |
| District & Subordinate Courts | 2.62 crore       | 3.14 crore       |

Disposal of cases in courts is within the domain of judiciary. However, the Union 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 National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms, established  by  the  Union  Government  in  2011,  has  adopted  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. The major steps taken during the last five years under various initiatives are as follows:

- (i) Improving  infrastructure  for  Judicial  Officers  of  District  and  Subordinate Courts:  As  on  date,  Rs.  7,453.10  crores  has  been  released  since  the inception of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary in 1993-94. Out of this, Rs.4,008.80 crores (which is 53.79% of the total amount released till date) has been released  to  the  States  and  UTs  since  April,  2014.  The  number  of  court halls has increased from 15,818 as on 30.06.2014 to 19,414 as on date and  number  of  residential  units  has  increased  from  10,211  as  on 30.06.2014  to  17,103  as  on  date  under  this  scheme.  In  addition,  2,822 court halls and 1,869 residential units are under construction.
- (ii) Leveraging Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for improved  justice  delivery:  Government  has  been  implementing  the  eCourts Mission Mode Project throughout the country for Information and Communication Technology enablement of district and subordinate courts. Number of computerized District & Subordinate courts has increased from 13,672  to  16,845  registering  an  increase  of  3,173  during  2014  till  date. New  and  user-friendly  version  of  Case  Information  Software  developed and deployed at all the computerized District and Subordinate Courts.  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, 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  is  available  on  NJDG.  eCourts services such as details of case registration, cause list, case status, daily orders & final judgments are available to litigants and advocates through eCourts  web  portal,  Judicial  Service  Centres  (JSC)  in  all  computerized courts, eCourts Mobile App, email service, SMS push & pull services.

- (iii) Filling up of vacant positions in Supreme Court, High Courts and District and Subordinate Courts: From 01.05.2014 to 14.11.2019, 35 Judges were appointed  in  Supreme  Court.  478  new  Judges  were  appointed  and  427 Additional Judges were made permanent in the High Courts. Sanctioned strength of Judges of High Courts has been increased from 906 in May, 2014  to  1079  currently.  Sanctioned  and  working  strength  of  Judicial Officers in District and Subordinate Courts has increased as follows:
- (iv) Reduction  in  Pendency  through  /  follow  up  by  Arrears  Committees:  In pursuance of resolution passed in Chief Justices' Conference held in April, 2015, Arrears Committees have been set up in High Courts to clear cases pending for more than five years.  Arrears Committees have been set up under District Judges too.  Arrears Committee has been constituted in the Supreme Court to formulate steps to reduce pendency of cases in High Courts and District Courts.
- (v) Emphasis on Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR): Commercial Courts Act, 2015  (as  amended  on  20 th August,  2018)  stipulates  mandatory  preinstitution mediation and settlement of commercial disputes. Amendment to  the  Arbitration  and  Conciliation  Act,  1996  has  been  made  by  the Arbitration  and  Conciliation  (Amendment)  Act  2015  for  expediting  the speedy resolution of disputes by prescribing timelines.
- (vi) Initiatives  to  Fast  Track  Special  Type  of  Cases:  As  on  30.09.2019,  704 Fast  Track  Courts  are  functional  for  heinous  crimes,  crimes  against women  and  children,  family  and  matrimonial  disputes,  etc.  Further,

| As on      | Sanctioned Strength   | Working Strength   |
|------------|-----------------------|--------------------|
| 31.12.2013 | 19,518                | 15,115             |
| 14.11.2019 | 23,566                | 17,342             |

Government  has  approved  a  scheme  for  setting  up  1023  Fast  Track Special  Courts  across  the  country  for  expeditious  disposal  of  pending cases under Rape and POCSO Act.

- (b) e-Filing application was launched on 14th August, 2018. It is made available at efiling.ecourts.gov.in  where  online  registration  of  lawyers  and  litigants  can  be done. Through the application, one can file cases from any part of India to any court on registration. e-Filing application has been developed and is integrated with  Case  Information  Software  (CIS  3.0),  which  is  the  standard  application software  across  all  District  and  Subordinate  Courts  of  the  country.  Integration with  CIS  1.0  software  of  High  Courts  is also  complete.  e-Filing  module  with  epayment  of  court  fees  is  ready  for  courts  in  the  states  of  Telangana,  Andhra Pradesh,  Maharashtra,  Punjab  and  Haryana.  In  other  states,  except  for  epayment, the e-filing module is ready for launch in all the courts that have shifted to CIS 1.0 and CIS 3.0. The e-filing facility is live and working in selected pilot district courts at Bombay, Punjab and Haryana High Courts such as Mumbai Civil Court and Gurugram District Court, Haryana. Further, pursuant to the directions of Delhi High Court, e-filing facility integrated with CIS 3.1 has been implemented with effect from 24th May, 2019 exclusively for Arbitration Matters pertaining to Central District of Delhi District Courts.
- (c) The  following  steps  have  been  taken  to  promote  Alternate  Dispute  Resolution methods for settlement of disputes:
- (i) The Commercial Courts Act, 2015: This Act was amended in August 2018, so as to introduce Pre-Institution  Mediation  and  Settlement  (PIMS) mechanism. According to this mechanism where no urgent, interim relief is contemplated,  the  parties  have  to  exhaust  the  remedy  of  PIMS,  for resolving  the  commercial  disputes,  through  the  authorities  constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. Further, the Mediators are required  to  complete  the  mediation  proceedings  within  a  period  of  3 months  which  can  be  extended  by  further  2  months  with  the  mutual consent of the parties.
- (ii) The  New  Delhi  International  Arbitration  Centre  Act,  2019:  This  Act  was enacted on 26 th July, 2019 with a view to make India a hub of international

commercial arbitration.  It  seeks  to  establish  an  Arbitration  Centre  called New  Delhi  International  Arbitration  Centre  (NDIAC)  as  an  institute  of national importance. NDIAC would bring in targeted reforms to develop it as a flagship institution for domestic and international arbitration. NDIAC will also conduct arbitration in a professional manner in the cost and time effective  way.  It  will  provide  facilities  and  administrative  assistance  for conciliation, mediation and arbitral proceedings. An Arbitration Chamber is proposed to  be  set  up,  which  would  empanel  professional  arbitrators  at national and international level. An Arbitration Academy is also proposed to be set up by NDIAC to train arbitrators in India, so as to empower them to compete on par with reputed arbitral institutions.

- (iii) The  Arbitration  and  Conciliation  (Amendment)  Act,  2019:  This  Act  was enacted  on  9 th August,  2019.  It  provides  for  the  establishment  of  an independent  body  namely,  the  Arbitration  Council  of  India  (ACI)  for  the purpose of grading of arbitral institutions and accreditation of arbitrators, etc.  The  ACI  will,  inter-  alia,  frame  policies  governing  the  grading  of arbitral institutions; recognise professional institutes providing accreditation  of  arbitrators;  review  the  grading  of  arbitral  institutions  and arbitrators; hold training, workshops and courses in the area of arbitration in collaboration  of law  firms, law  universities and  arbitral institutes; promote institutional arbitration by strengthening arbitral institutions; conduct examination and training on various subjects relating to arbitration and conciliation and award certificates thereof; and establish and maintain depository of arbitral awards made in India.
- (d) Initiation  of  proposal  for  appointment  of  Judges  in  High  Courts  vests  with  the Chief  Justice  of  the  High  Court.  Appointment  of  Judges  in  High  Courts  is  a continuous collaborative process between the Executive and the Judiciary, as it requires consultation and approval from various Constitutional Authorities. While every effort is made to fill up the existing vacancies keep on arising on account of retirement,  resignation  or  elevation  of  Judges.  Due  to  combined  efforts  of Government  and  Judiciary,  from  01.05.2014  to  14.11.2019,  35  Judges  were appointed  in  Supreme  Court.  478  new  Judges  were  appointed  and  427 Additional Judges were made permanent in the High Courts. Sanctioned strength

of  Judges  of  High  Courts  has  been  increased  from  906  in  May,  2014  to  1079 currently.

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. However, the Union Government, on its part, has been taking  up  the  matter  of  filling  up  of  vacant  positions  in  District  &  Subordinate Courts with the States and High Courts. In August, 2018, Union Minister of Law & Justice  has  written  to  all  Chief  Justices  of  High  Courts  to  monitor  status  of vacancies regularly and to ensure proper coordination with State Public Service Commission to fill up vacant posts stipulated by Supreme Court in Malik Mazhar Sultan case. In addition, series of meetings were held with Registrars General of all  High  Courts  and  Law  Secretaries  of  all  State  Governments  /  UTs  through Video Conferencing in January, 2018, July, 2018,  November,  2018  and September, 2019 to follow up on filling up posts of Judicial Officers in District and Subordinate Courts. Department of Justice has hosted a MIS web-portal on its website for reporting and monitoring, on monthly basis, of sanctioned strength, working strength  and vacancies  of  Judicial Officers  of  District  and  Subordinate Courts.  Sanctioned  and  working  strength  of  Judicial  Officers  in  District  and Subordinate Courts has increased as follows:

| As on      | Sanctioned Strength   | Working Strength   |
|------------|-----------------------|--------------------|
| 31.12.2013 | 19,518                | 15,115             |
| 14.11.2019 | 23,566                | 17,342             |

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