Lok Sabha Question No. 473 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-20
Subject: High Pendency of Court Cases
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Diya Kumari, Locket Chatterjee, Nishikant  Dubey, Pankaj Chowdhary

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 473 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 20 TH  NOVEMBER, 2019.

## High pendency of Court Cases

## 473. MS.DIYA KUMARI:

MS.LOCKET CHATTERJEE:

DR. NISHIKANT DUBEY:

SHRI PANKAJ CHAUDHARY:

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

- (a)  the State-wise details of cases lying pending in various courts for more than 10 years and the number of cases of serious nature out of them;
- (b)  the number of cases pending in the Supreme Court, High Courts and various district courts and Tribunals as on date along with the initiative taken by the Government to reduce the backlog in a time-bound manner;
- (c) whether the Government is aware of the abysmally low ratio of courts vis-à-vis the population of the country and if so, the steps taken by the Government to increase the ratio;
- (d)  whether  the  Government  is  considering  to  set  up  new  High  Courts  in  the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (e)  the  quantum  of  amount  spent  by  the  Government  for  the  legal  aid  to  the common/poor people during the last three financial years; and
- (f) the other steps taken by the Government to dispose of the cases lying pending in various courts in a time-bound manner?

## ANSWER

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

## (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a):  As  per  data  available  on  the  National  Judicial  Data  Grid  (NJDG),  the  State-wise details of cases pending for more than 10 years is given in the Annexure. NJDG does not provide data regarding cases of serious nature separately.

- (b): As per data available on the website of Supreme Court and National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), the total number of cases pending in various courts as on 14.11.19 is as under:

| Name of Court                    | Pending Cases   |
|----------------------------------|-----------------|
| Supreme Court (As on 01.11.2019) | 59,867          |
| High Courts                      | 44,76,625       |
| District and Subordinate Courts  | 3,14,53,555     |

Data relating  to  pending  cases  in  Tribunals  is  not  provided  on  NJDG.  Further, disposal of cases in courts is within the domain of judiciary. 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.

- (c):  Based  on  the  population  as  per  Census  2011  and  as  per  information  available regarding sanctioned strength of Judges in Supreme Court, High Courts and District & Subordinate Courts, the Judges per million population in India works out to be 20.39. In pursuance of the directions of the Supreme Court in the case of Imtiyaz Ahmed versus State of Uttar Pradesh and others, 2012, to evolve a method for scientific assessment of the  number  of  additional  courts  required  to  clear  the  backlog  of  cases,  the  Law Commission of India, in its 245th report (2014), did not consider the judge population ratio to be a scientific criterion for determining the adequacy of the judge strength in the country. Further, number of District and Subordinate Courts has increased from 19518 in 2014 to 23566 at present. As on 30.09.19, 704 Fast Track Courts are functional for heinous crimes, crimes against women and children, family and matrimonial disputes, etc.  Further,  Government  has  approved  a  scheme  for  setting  up  1023  Fast  Track Special  Courts  across  the  country  for  expeditious  disposal  of  pending  166882  cases under Rape and POCSO Act.
- (d): There is no proposal to establish new High Court in the country.

(e):    A  sum  of  Rs.  390  crores  has  been  released  during  the  financial  years  2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 (upto November) to National Legal services Authority (NALSA) towards activities for providing legal aid to common/poor people in the country. NALSA has set  up  legal  services  institutions  at  the  level  of  Taluk  Courts,  District  Courts  and States. Apart from these legal services institutions, High Court Legal Services Committees are constituted at all High Courts and the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee  at  the  Supreme  Court  level  to  provide  free  legal  services  to  the  persons eligible  under  Section  12  of  the  Legal  Services  Authorities  Act.  Free  legal  services include payment of court fees, providing advocate and preparation of paper book. The NALSA  has  notified  National  Legal  Services  Authority  (Free  and  Competent  Legal Services) Regulations, 2010.  The said Regulation provides entitlement to the poor and weaker section of the society such as member of SC/ST, women and children.  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.

(f):  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  of  the Preamble  and  Article  39A  of  the  Constitution.  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  in  2011    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 [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 constituted    at  District,  High  Court  and  Supreme  Court  level,  emphasis  on  Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) and initiatives to fast track special type of cases.

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

Annexure

## State-Wise details of Cases pending in District and Subordinate Courts as on 14.11.2019

| Sl. No   | Name of States/UTs   | Number of Cases pending in District and Subordinate Courts More than 10 Years. (As On 14.11.2019)   |
|----------|----------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1.       | A & N Island         | 0                                                                                                   |
| 2.       | Andhra Pradesh       | 4213                                                                                                |
| 3.       | Telangana            | 6828                                                                                                |
| 4.       | Arunachal Pradesh    | ------                                                                                              |
| 5.       | Assam                | 2806                                                                                                |
| 6.       | Bihar                | 377250                                                                                              |
| 7.       | Chandigarh           | 49                                                                                                  |
| 8.       | Chhattisgarh         | 774                                                                                                 |
| 9.       | D & N Haveli         | 198                                                                                                 |
| 10.      | Daman & Diu          | 67                                                                                                  |
| 11.      | Delhi                | 4865                                                                                                |
| 12.      | Goa                  | 1698                                                                                                |
| 13.      | Gujarat              | 175439                                                                                              |
| 14.      | Haryana              | 501                                                                                                 |
| 15.      | Himachal Pradesh     | 735                                                                                                 |
| 16.      | Jammu & Kashmir      | 4009                                                                                                |
| 17.      | Jharkhand            | 11433                                                                                               |
| 18.      | Karnataka            | 35761                                                                                               |
| 19.      | Kerala               | 6264                                                                                                |
| 20.      | Lakshadweep          | --------                                                                                            |
| 21.      | Madhya Pradesh       | 13526                                                                                               |
| 22.      | Maharashtra          | 250095                                                                                              |
| 23.      | Manipur              | 258                                                                                                 |
| 24.      | Meghalaya            | 758                                                                                                 |
| 25.      | Mizoram              | 18                                                                                                  |
| 26.      | Nagaland             | -------                                                                                             |
| 27.      | Orissa               | 175409                                                                                              |
| 28.      | Punjab               | 918                                                                                                 |
| 29.      | Rajasthan            | 48437                                                                                               |
| 30.      | Sikkim               | 0                                                                                                   |
| 31.      | Tamil Nadu           | 34037                                                                                               |
| 32.      | Pondicherry          | -------                                                                                             |
| 33.      | Tripura              | 1196                                                                                                |
| 34.      | Uttar Pradesh        | 943935                                                                                              |
| 35.      | Uttarakhand          | 2795                                                                                                |
| 36.      | West Bengal          | 286443                                                                                              |
| Total    |                      | 2390715                                                                                             |

Source: NJDG Web portal.

Note: Data on District and Subordinate Courts in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland , and Union Territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry are not available on the web-portal of NJDG.