Lok Sabha Question No. 305 (STARRED), answered on 2019-01-02
Subject: Backlog of Cases
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: RAMA DEVI, RAM TAHAL CHOUDHARY

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

## LOK SABHA

STARRED QUESTION NO. †*305

TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 02 ND  JANUARY, 2019.

Backlog of Cases

## †*305. SHRIMATI RAMA DEVI: SHRI RAM TAHAL CHOUDHARY:

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

- (a) whether High Courts have set up monitoring / arrears committees / cells to clear backlog of cases;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the extent to which the number of pending cases have been reduced as a result  of  the  work  carried  out  through  the  said  monitoring  /  arrears committees / cells?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE AND ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

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

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (c) of LOK SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  †*305  FOR  ANSWER  ON  02 ND JANUARY, 2019

Pursuant to the Joint Conference of the Chief Ministers of the States and Chief  Justices  of  the  High  Courts  in  2015  where  it  was  resolved  that  all  High Courts  would  constitute  an  Arrears  Committee,  the  then  Minister  of  Law  and Justice  had  written  to  the  Chief  Justices  of  the  High  Courts  requesting  them  to appraise the Government of the steps being taken by them to address the issue of pendency especially regarding  cases  pending  for  more  than  5  years.    As  per  the available  information,  all  24  High  Courts  have  established  Arrears  Committees. Arrears Committee has also been established in the Supreme Court of India.  At district level, the District Judge holds monthly meetings of all judicial officers to monitor progress made in reduction of long pending cases.

2. Progress made by the High Courts in reducing pendency was taken up for consideration  again  in  the  Conference  of  Chief  Justices  of  High  Courts  held  in April 2016.  Based on the reports submitted by the Arrears Committee of various High Courts, it was, inter-alia, resolved that (i) all the High Courts shall assign top most priority for disposal of cases which are pending for more than five years; (ii) High Courts where cases are pending for more than five years shall facilitate their disposal in mission mode; (iii) High Court shall progressively thereafter set a target of disposing of cases for more than four years; (iv) While prioritizing the disposal of  cases  pending  in  the  district  courts  for  more  than  five  years,  additional incentives  for  the  Judges  of  the  district  judiciary  could  be  considered  where feasible;  and  (v)  Efforts  shall  be  made  for  strengthening  case-flow  management rules.  It was further resolved that the Chief Justices of the High Courts will set up a Cell / Committee for monitoring the implementation of the resolutions passed in the Chief Justices Conferences and each High Court shall create a mechanism for submitting progress report to the Supreme Court. Accordingly, Arrears Committees are functioning in the Supreme Court, and all the 24 High Courts and in District Courts.

3. Following  this  Conference,  the  Department  of  Justice  had  written  to  the Registrars  General  of  all  the  High  Courts  requesting  them  to  appraise  the Government  of  the  steps  being  taken  towards  implementation  of  the  resolution passed in the Conference.  A tabulated summary of key steps taken by High Courts for the reduction of pendency in courts consequent to the recommendations of the Arrears Committee are given in a statement at Annexure.

4. Pendency  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.

5. The Government is, however, fully committed to speedy disposal of cases. The 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 by the Government has adopted a coordinated approach for phased liquidation of arrears and pendency in judicial administration through various strategic initiatives, including improving infrastructure for courts, leveraging  Information  and  Communication  Technology  (ICT)  for  better  justice delivery, and filling up of vacant positions of Judges in High Courts and Supreme Court.  The major achievements during the last four years under various initiatives to make the functioning of subordinate judiciary more efficient are as follows:

- (i) Improving  infrastructure  for  Judicial  Officers  of  District  and  Subordinate Courts:  As  on  date,  Rs.6,623.87  crores  have  been  released  since  the inception  of  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  (CSS)  for  Development  of Infrastructure  Facilities  for  Judiciary  in  1993-94.    Out  of  this,  3,179.57 crores  (which  are  48%  of  the  total  amount  released  till  date)  have  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  18,731  as  on  date  and number of residential units has increased from 10,211 as on 30.06.2014 to 16,539  as  on  date  under  this  scheme.    In  addition,  2,906  court  halls  and 1,754 residential units are under construction.  The Central Government has approved continuation of the Scheme beyond the 12 th Five Year Plan period i.e. from  01.04.2017  to  31.03.2020  with  an  estimated  additional  outlay  of Rs.3,320 crore.
- (ii) Leveraging Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for improved justice delivery: Number of computerised District & Subordinate courts has increased from 13,672 to 16,755 registering an increase of 3,083 during 2014 to 2018.  National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) provides citizens with online information about case filings, case status and electronic copies of  orders  and  judgments  from  district  and  subordinate  courts  that  have already been computerized. Information regarding 10.80 crore cases including  more  than  three  crore  pending  cases  and  more  than  7.91  crore orders  /  judgments  are  available  on  this  portal.    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  computerised  courts,  eCourts

Mobile App, email service, SMS push & pull services.  eCourts Project has been consistently amongst the top 5 Mission Mode Projects of country.

6. 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, in certain States recruitment is done by the High Courts, whereas in other  States,  the  recruitment  is  done  by  High  Courts  in  consultation  with  State Public Service Commission.

7. During  the  Chief  Justice's  Conference  held  in  2016  it  was, inter-alia, resolved that the Chief Justices shall take effective steps in coordination with the State Governments to ensure an increase in the cadre strength of the District and Subordinate Courts commensurate with the needs of their states in compliance with the  judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Brij Mohan Lal versus Union of India, and to ensure compliance with the time schedule and directions laid down in the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Malik Mazhar Sultan case (2006). It  was  also  resolved  that  the  Chief  Justices  shall,  in  particular,  ensure  that  the Selection  and  Appointment  Committees in  the  High  Courts  periodically  monitor the process of filling up of vacancies in the District and Subordinate Courts.

8. In  September,  2016,  Union  Minister  of  Law  &  Justice  wrote  to  the  Chief Ministers  of  States  and  the  Chief  Justices  of  High  Courts  to  enhance  the  cadre strength of the District and Subordinate Courts and provide physical infrastructure to the State judiciary. The same was reiterated in May, 2017. In August, 2018, in the context of increasing pendency of cases, the Union Minister of Law & Justice has  written  to  all  Chief  Justices  of  High  Courts  to  monitor  the  Status  of  the vacancies regularly and to ensure proper coordination with the state Public Service Commission to fill up vacant posts as per time schedule prescribed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the Malik Mazhar Sultan case.  The filling up of vacancies is also being monitored by the Supreme Court in a suo-motu writ petition (civil) no. 2 of 2018.

9. A series of meetings were held with Registrars General of all High Courts and Law Secretaries of all State Governments / UTs through Video Conferencing in  the  month of January, 2018, July, 2018 and November, 2018 to follow up on filling up posts of Judicial Officers in District and Subordinate Courts.

10. The  Department  of  Justice  has  hosted  a  web-portal  on  its  website  for reporting  and  monitoring  of  sanctioned  and  working  strength,  and  vacancies  of Judicial Officers of District and Subordinate Courts on monthly basis.

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

ANNEXURE Statement referred to Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *305 dated 02.01.2019. Summary of Responses Received from High Courts on Steps Taken Towards

Reducing Pendency on the recommendations of Arrears Committees.

|   S. No. | High Court                            | Steps taken to reduce pendency                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
|----------|---------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Allahabad                             | The High Court has framed ' Saral Petty Offence Fine Deposit Scheme ' (Power Jyoti Scheme) in order to reduce pendency of petty cases in the District and Subordinate Courts and a Committee to monitor the Scheme has also been constituted. 212 Fast Track Courts have been created and Government Order regarding creation of 38 Additional Courts has been issued. A committee to scrutinize and recommend the names of retired judicial officers for appointment of presiding officers to the Additional Court has also been constituted. Monthly pendency reduction campaigns are carried out. High Court Legal Services Committee has been constituted to give effect to policies, programmes and schemes of legal aid and legal services. Steps are also taken to impart 40 hours training on mediation to at least 500 judicial officers. |
|        2 | High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad | Arrears Committee has been constituted. A number of circulars have been issued directing strict observance of Court timings, abstention from administrative work during court working hours, equitable allotment of work to all Additional District Judges and Principal District Court, monitoring and monthly review of the performance of judicial officers, disposal of cases by way of arbitration / conciliation / judicial settlement including Lok Adalat / mediation, etc . The High Court has adopted the Case Flow Management in Subordinate Court Rules.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
|        3 | Bombay                                | A committee of two Judges has been constituted and periodical meetings are conducted. Steps for disposal of cases in the Subordinate Courts which include formulation of an 11 point programme for                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |

|    |              | speedy disposal of cases have been taken. A Special Board Scheme, wherein 3 days in a week is earmarked for trials of cases pending for more than 5 years as Special Board Days, has been introduced. Special Drive for reduction of arrears of cases is also organized and a Committee headed by Principal District Judge has been constituted at District level to provide recommendation to the State Government to withdraw old and ineffective Government litigation.   |
|----|--------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  4 | Calcutta     | Extra units are given as incentive to the Judicial officers on disposal of cases pending for more than five years. Directions have been issued to dedicate one day in a week for hearing old cases. Sensitization on day management, time management and use of mediation as well as ADR are conducted. Lok Adalats are held regularly in different districts. In the High Court 50 ' old motion hearing cases ' are listed on a priority basis.                             |
|  5 | Chhattisgarh | The Arrears Committee in its meeting has recommended the following:  Judges of the District Judiciary be granted additional units as incentives; and  Need to strength the Case Flow Management Rules for trial Courts.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
|  6 | Delhi        | The Committee has been constituted to suggest ways and means of reducing pendency. At the District Judiciary, directions have been issued to give priority to 5 year plus cases. Additional units are given for disposal of such cases.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
|  7 | Gujarat      | Arrears Committee has been constituted and norms for disposal of cases by judicial officers of the subordinate courts have been revised. The High Court has established District and Sessions Courts in newly created District by the Government. A committee has been constituted for sensitization on family matters. Special                                                                                                                                              |

|    |                  | Courts i.e., Commercial Courts, to try offences under the Companies Act 2013 and NIA have been established.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
|----|------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  8 | Gauhati          | The Arrears Committee of the High Court has been monitoring the disposal of old cases. Cases up to 2008 are being listed on priority basis. Instructions have been issued to the District Courts to dispose old cases on top priority.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
|  9 | Himachal Pradesh | The High Court of Himachal Pradesh has adopted the CMIS system for listing of cases and have prioritized disposal of certain cases. Lok Adalats are organized on a regular basis. Mediation centers have been set up. Instructions have been issued to subordinate courts to achieve the target of five plus zero pendency.                                                                                                                                                                        |
| 10 | Jammu & Kashmir  | A number of circulars have been issued to the subordinate Courts. These include giving top priority to the disposal of old cases, ensuring expeditious disposal of cases relating to crime against women, children, differently abled, disposal of anti corruption cases in time bound manner. Additional units are given for disposal of such cases. Lok Adalat and ADR are used for disposal of cases. 2 credit points are awarded to judicial officers for each case settled through mediation. |
| 11 | Jharkhand        | The State Government has been requested to create posts of section officer and legal assistants. At the district judiciary, priority is given to cases pending for more than 10 years. Guidelines relating to disposal of cases of under trial prisoners have been issued. In the High Court old admission cases are listed for 2 days and old hearing matters are listed for one day every week to prioritize disposal of 5 plus old cases.                                                       |
| 12 | Karnataka        | The Arrears Committee has formulated a guideline directing judicial officers to identify (a) 200 oldest cases to be taken up on priority and (b) 45 old cases among them for disposal within 3 months. General Circular has been issued                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |

|    |                | providing for additional units for disposal of old cases.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
|----|----------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 13 | Kerala         | Subordinate Courts have been directed to focus on disposal of five plus year old cases. High Court have been assigned TFD (targeted for Disposal) of cases listed up to 2010. One Bench of the High Court has been assigned to deal with five plus year old cases.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| 14 | Madhya Pradesh | New Listing Policy has been introduced which identifies and classifies more than five year old cases to be listed mandatorily. 10 years old cases are also given priority. At the Subordinate courts, Arrears Committee cum Case Management Committee cum Committee for State Court Management System has been constituted. An Action Plan has been prepared to clear backlog of cases pending for more than 5 years. The District Judges in the State have been directed to furnish the information / report with regard to nature of cases pending for 5 years or more for certain offences. |
| 15 | Madras         | Directions have been issued to the subordinate judiciary to hear and dispose of old cases pending for more than 5 years on every Monday (criminal cases) and Wednesday (civil cases). Video conference is conducted on a regular basis between the Chief Justice, the member Judge of the Arrears Committee and the judges of the subordinate courts in the State of Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry to discuss and                                                                                                                                                           |
| 16 | Manipur        | review the issue relating to pendency of old cases. The High Court of Manipur has an Arrears Committee consisting of Hon'ble Chief Justice as Chairman, two Senior most Judges of the High Court as Member and Registrar (Judicial) as Secretary. Regular meetings are held and disposal of cases are monitored by the Committee. Emphasis is made to dispose of cases which are more than 10 years old. Recently, in a meeting chaired by the Hon'ble Chief Justice direction was                                                                                                             |

|    |                  | also issued to all the District & Sessions Judges, Addl. District & Sessions Judges, Judges of Special Courts, Judges of Family Courts and Presiding Officers of MACT / Revenue / Co- operative Society Tribunal to dispose of cases of more than 10 years old within 10 months.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|----|------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 17 | Meghalaya        | Arrears Committee has been reconstituted.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| 18 | Orissa           | Arrears Committee was constituted as per instruction of Hon'ble Apex Court for expeditious disposal of cases pending in the High Court. Necessary instructions have been imparted from time to time by the Arrears Committee for speedy disposal of cases.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| 19 | Patna            | Directions have been issued to District and Sessions court to undertake special drive to dispose cases pending before 2000 within 3 months and to dispose of matter instituted before 2006 within 6 months. Target of 50 cases per month has been specified for disposal. Exclusive Benches have been constituted for disposal of criminal appeals especially pending since 1992 in the High Courts.                                                                                                                                                             |
| 20 | Punjab & Haryana | The High Court has introduced mechanism to list old cases on priority. The High Court has conceptualized Annual Action Plan 2016-17, fixing targets for all judicial officers (except District and Sessions Judges) in the Subordinate courts. Instructions have been issued to the Subordinate courts to dispose of cases which are more than 15 and 20 years within a period of 6 months and 3 months respectively. Further specific instructions to dispose of traffic cases and cases under Section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act have also been issued. |
| 21 | Rajasthan        | Hon'ble Arrears Committee has prepared an Action plan for speedy & time bound disposal of cases. An effective mechanism of monitoring was also evolved. Monthly progress reports are obtained to monitor timely disposal of cases by the Subordinate courts. Bimonthly meetings are                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |

|    |             | convened under the Chairmanship of respective District Judge to discuss issues relating to work performance, pendency, etc . Old cases are listed regularly in the High Court.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
|----|-------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 22 | Sikkim      | The Arrears Committee is convening regular monthly review meetings with judicial officers of the Subordinate Courts to ensure compliance with Subordinate Courts of Sikkim Case Flow Management Rules, 2006. The High Court has fixed norms for disposal of cases and additional units are given for disposal of such cases.                                                                                                                                                 |
| 23 | Tripura     | Matters regarding non execution of warrants in cases pending for more than five years have been taken up with the Director General of Police (DGP). DGP has constituted a cell at the District level headed by the Superintendent of Police to monitor the execution of all long pending warrants. An Action Plan to reduce the number of cases pending for more than 5 years has been prepared. Time frame for disposal of cases in the District Judiciary has been issued. |
| 24 | Uttarakhand | On the recommendations of Arrears Committee and after approval of Hon`ble the Chief Justice, Subordinate Courts have been directed to dispose of by 31 st March 2018, cases of all nature, which were instituted before 1 st January, 2012. Arrears Committee at districts level has also been constituted.                                                                                                                                                                  |

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