Lok Sabha Question No. 2509 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-26
Subject: Cases Pending in Various Courts
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: RANGASWAMY DHRUVANARAYANA, KRISHN PRATAP SINGH, S.P. MUDDAHANUMEGOWDA, SHARAD BANSODE, RODMAL NAGAR, LAKHAN LAL SAHU

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2509

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 26 th  DECEMBER, 2018.

## Cases Pending in Various Courts

## 2509. SHRI R. DHRUVA NARAYANA:

DR. KRISHAN PRATAP:

SHRI S.P. MUDDAHANUME GOWDA:

ADV. SHARADKUMAR MARUTI BANSODE:

SHRI NAGAR RODMAL:

SHRI LAKHAN LAL SAHU:

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

- (a) whether the Government has formulated any special plan to reduce the number of  cases  /  dispose  of  cases  lying  pending  for  long  in  various  courts  of  the country;
- (b)  if  so,  the  details  thereof,  courtwise  along  with  the  status  of  National  Judicial Commission as well as Law Reforms Mission at present;
- (c) the State-wise / year-wise number of cases lying pending in the Supreme Court, various High Courts and other Courts during the last two years and the current year till date; and
- (d)  the  details  of  guidelines  issued  /  steps  taken  for  speedy  disposal  of  such pending cases and time limit fixed for appointment of additional Judges as per requirement under the above stated special plan?

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

(a), (b) & (d): 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.  No time frame has been prescribed for disposal of various kinds of cases by the respective courts.

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.
- (iii)  Filling up of vacant positions in Supreme Court, High Courts and judicial officers in District and Subordinate Courts: As per the Constitutional framework, the selection and  appointment  of  judges  in  subordinate  courts  is  the  responsibility  of  State Governments and the High Courts concerned.  In so far as recruitment of judicial officers in the States is concerned, respective High Courts do it in certain States, whereas  the  High  Courts  do  it  in  consultation  with  the  State  Public  Service Commissions in other States.

Filling up of vacancies in the Supreme Court and the 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 the 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  keep  on  arising  on  account  of retirement,  resignation  or  elevation  of  Judges  (to  the  Supreme  Court)  and  also  due  to increase in the strength of Judges.  During May 2014 - November 2018, 25 Judges were appointed in Supreme Court; 423 new Judges were appointed and 362 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  been  increased  as follows:

| As on      | Sanctioned Strength   | Working Strength   |
|------------|-----------------------|--------------------|
| 31.12.2013 | 19,518                | 15,115             |
| 30.09.2018 | 22,644                | 17,509             |

Minister of Law & Justice vide letter dated 14 th August, 2018 has written to the Chief Justices of High Courts and Chief Ministers of States to monitor the status of  vacancies in the district and subordinate courts regularly and to ensure proper coordination with the State Public Service Commission so that the examination and the interviews are conducted in accordance with the time schedule prescribed by the Supreme Court in the Malik Mazhar Sultan case.

- (iv)  Reduction  in  Pendency  through  /  follow  up  by  Arrears  Committees:  Further,  in pursuance of resolution passed in Chief Justices' Conference held in April, 2015, Arrears Committees have been set up in 24 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) Nyaya Mitra Scheme: In order to reduce cases pending in courts for over 10 years, the  Government  launched  the  Nyaya  Mitra  Scheme  in  April  2017.    Under  the Scheme, retired  judicial  officers  are  engaged  and  designated  as  ' Nyaya Mitra '  to facilitate  expeditious  disposal  of  the  cases  pending  over  10  years.    In  the  first Phase,  15  Nyaya  Mitra  have  been  engaged  in  15  Districts  of  Rajasthan,  West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Tripura.
- (vi)  Emphasis on Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR): Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts (Amendment)  Act,  2018  has  been  enacted  on  20 th August,  2018  whereby mandatory pre-Institution mediation mechanism has been introduced for settlement of commercial disputes. Amendment to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 by the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act 2015 is done to expedite the speedy  resolution  of disputes by prescribing timelines. The  Arbitration  and Conciliation  (Amendment)  Bill,  2018  passed  by  the  Lok  Sabha  on  10.08.2018 seeks  to  set  up  Arbitration  Council  of  India  (ACI)  to inter-alia grade  arbitral institutions, accredit arbitrators and impart training and award certificate in the ADR field.
- (vii)  Initiatives to  Fast  Track  Special  Type  of  Cases:  The  Fourteenth  Finance Commission endorsed the proposal of the Government to strengthen the judicial system  in  States  which  included, inter-alia ,  establishing  Fast  Track  Courts  for cases  of  heinous  crimes;  cases  involving  senior  citizens,  women,  children etc ., and urged the State Governments to use the additional fiscal space provided in the form of enhanced tax devolution form 32% to 42% to meet such requirements. At present, 708 such Fast Track Courts are functioning across the country. To fast track  criminal  cases  involving  elected  MPs  /  MLAs,  twelve  (12)  Special  Courts have  been  set  up  in  eleven  (11)  States  (Andhra  Pradesh,  Telangana,  Kerala, Karnataka,  Tamil  Nadu,  Maharashtra,  Madhya  Pradesh,  Uttar  Pradesh,  Bihar, West Bengal and NCT of Delhi) and proportionate funds have been released to these  States  by  the  Government.  The  Criminal  Law  (Amendment)  Act,  2018  to amend the Indian Penal Code, Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the Code of Criminal

Procedure, 1973 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offices Act, 2012 has been enacted on 11 th August, 2018.

The  Hon'ble  Supreme  Court  vide  Judgement  dated  16.10.2015  struck  down  the Constitution (Ninetyninth Amendment  )  Act, 2014 and the National Judicial Appointment Commission, Act, 2014 as  'unconstitutional and  void' and declared the system of appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court and High Courts as existing prior  to  the  Constitution  (Ninety-ninth  Amendment)  Act,  2014  i.e.  the  'Collegium System' will remain operative.

(c): The details of number of cases pending in the Supreme Court during last two years and the current year is given below:

| Court         | Year             | Number of Cases pending   |
|---------------|------------------|---------------------------|
| Supreme Court | 2016             | 62,537                    |
| Supreme Court | 2017             | 55,588                    |
| Supreme Court | As on 01.12.2018 | 56,994                    |

State-wise / year-wise details of cases pending in various District and Subordinate Courts  during  the  last  two  years  and  the  current  year  are  given  in  a  Statement  at Annexure  -  I .    High  Court-wise  /  year-wise  details  of  cases  pending  in  various  High Courts during the last two years and the current year are given at Annexure - II .

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

Annexure - I Statement referred to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2509 for reply on 26.12.2018 Year-wise  (for  last  three  years)  and  State-wise  pending  cases  in  District  and  Subordinate Courts

| Sl. No   | Name of States/UTs   | Number of Cases pending in District and Subordinate Courts as on 31.12.2016$   | Number of Cases pending in District and Subordinate Courts as on 31.12.2017$$   | Number of Cases pending in District and Subordinate Courts as on 20.12.2018$$   |
|----------|----------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1.       | A & N Island         | 8,767                                                                          | 11,185                                                                          | 0                                                                               |
| 2.       | Andhra Pradesh       | 10,77,944                                                                      | 4,99,246                                                                        | 5,22,776                                                                        |
| 3.       | Telangana            |                                                                                | 4,16,164                                                                        | 5,16,297                                                                        |
| 4.       | Arunachal Pradesh    | 14,583                                                                         | ---                                                                             | 0                                                                               |
| 5.       | Assam                | 2,58,639                                                                       | 2,23,954                                                                        | 2,85,390                                                                        |
| 6.       | Bihar                | 21,28,325                                                                      | 16,58,292                                                                       | 24,68,897                                                                       |
| 7.       | Chandigarh           | 38,907                                                                         | 38,628                                                                          | 43,288                                                                          |
| 8.       | Chhattisgarh         | 2,90,434                                                                       | 2,72,888                                                                        | 2,59,949                                                                        |
| 9.       | D & N Haveli         | 3,766                                                                          | 3,552                                                                           | 2,717                                                                           |
| 10.      | Daman & Diu          | 1,720                                                                          | 1,746                                                                           | 1,859                                                                           |
| 11.      | Delhi                | 6,06,181                                                                       | 6,07,036                                                                        | 7,19,078                                                                        |
| 12.      | Goa                  | 42,074                                                                         | 39,745                                                                          | 44,105                                                                          |
| 13.      | Gujarat              | 18,22,311                                                                      | 16,41,355                                                                       | 16,23,470                                                                       |
| 14.      | Haryana              | 5,47,736                                                                       | 6,45,647                                                                        | 7,24,636                                                                        |
| 15.      | Himachal Pradesh     | 2,06,941                                                                       | 2,09,938                                                                        | 2,57,784                                                                        |
| 16.      | Jammu & Kashmir      | 1,45,999                                                                       | 1,21,754                                                                        | 1,59,065                                                                        |
| 17.      | Jharkhand            | 3,42,768                                                                       | 3,33,494                                                                        | 3,54,629                                                                        |
| 18.      | Karnataka            | 13,62,167                                                                      | 13,81,438                                                                       | 12,82,800                                                                       |
| 19.      | Kerala               | 14,82,667                                                                      | 11,52,056                                                                       | 11,67,809                                                                       |
| 20.      | Lakshadweep          | 357                                                                            | ---                                                                             | 0                                                                               |
| 21.      | Madhya Pradesh       | 10,97,634                                                                      | 13,25,053                                                                       | 13,80,822                                                                       |
| 22.      | Maharashtra          | 32,39,540                                                                      | 33,36,574                                                                       | 35,59,170                                                                       |
| 23.      | Manipur              | 6,978                                                                          | 9,604                                                                           | 9,939                                                                           |
| 24.      | Meghalaya            | 15,239                                                                         | 7,032                                                                           | 6,728                                                                           |
| 25.      | Mizoram              | 4,665                                                                          | 3,306                                                                           | 3,646                                                                           |
| 26.      | Nagaland             | 4,450                                                                          | ---                                                                             | 0                                                                               |
| 27.      | Odisha               | 10,49,325                                                                      | 10,22,635                                                                       | 11,30,261                                                                       |
| 28.      | Punjab               | 5,04,320                                                                       | 5,68,232                                                                        | 5,99,240                                                                        |
| 29.      | Rajasthan            | 11,48,704                                                                      | 14,24,560                                                                       | 15,14,581                                                                       |
| 30.      | Sikkim               | 1,434                                                                          | 1,400                                                                           | 1,316                                                                           |
| 31.      | Tamil Nadu           | 10,99,521                                                                      | 10,10,381                                                                       | 10,96,937                                                                       |
| 32.      | Puducherry           |                                                                                | ---                                                                             | 0                                                                               |
| 33.      | Tripura              | 43,568                                                                         | 25,191                                                                          | 23,301                                                                          |
| 34.      | Uttar Pradesh        | 59,80,071                                                                      | 61,61,822                                                                       | 70,06,224                                                                       |
| 35.      | Uttarakhand          | 1,90,948                                                                       | 2,10,587                                                                        | 2,37,781                                                                        |
| Total    | Total                | 2,74,97,436                                                                    | 2,61,24,130                                                                     | 2,92,11,615                                                                     |

$ Source: High Courts

$$ 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. Data in respect of Andaman & Nicobar Islands as on 20.12.2018 is not available on NJDG Portal.

## Statement referred to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2509 for reply on 26.12.2018 Details of Year-wise  and High Court-wise pending cases

| Sl. No   | High Court       | As on 31.12.2016*   | As on 31.12.2017**   | As on 21.12.2018**   |
|----------|------------------|---------------------|----------------------|----------------------|
| 1.       | Allahabad        | 9,16,046            | $                    | 7,24,726             |
| 2.       | Punjab & Haryana | 3,02,313            | 3,84,098             | 3,93,953             |
| 3.       | Madras           | 2,97,617            | 3,14,345             | 3,98,997             |
| 4.       | Madhya Pradesh   | 2,89,445            | 3,07,384             | 3,30,554             |
| 5.       | Andhra Pradesh   | 2,91,761            | 3,25,119             | 3,60,574             |
| 6.       | Bombay           | 2,61,649            | 4,64,074             | 4,64,074             |
| 7.       | Rajasthan        | 2,54,131            | 2,63,103             | 7,41,193             |
| 8.       | Karnataka        | 2,77,620            | 2,11,110             | 2,36,161             |
| 9.       | Calcutta         | 2,19,064            | 2,32,116             | 2,43,456             |
| 10.      | Orissa           | 1,68,003            | 1,68,375             | 1,67,072             |
| 11.      | Kerala           | 1,66,735            | 1,81,114             | 1,93,371             |
| 12.      | Patna            | 1,34,459            | 1,45,056             | 1,49,920             |
| 13.      | Gujarat          | 75,098              | 1,09,709             | 1,13,511             |
| 14.      | Jharkhand        | 85,757              | 57,944               | 87,997               |
| 15.      | Delhi            | 67,082              | 69,546               | 74,252               |
| 16.      | Jammu & Kashmir  | 59,404              | $                    | 91,994               |
| 17.      | Chhattisgarh     | 55,642              | 59,463               | 63,359               |
| 18.      | Uttarakhand      | 32,004              | 36,910               | 55,751               |
| 19.      | Himachal Pradesh | 25,147              | 37,955               | 36,066               |
| 20.      | Gauhati          | 29,469              | 39,191               | 40,457               |
| 21.      | Manipur          | 3,286               | 16,889               | 7,308                |
| 22.      | Tripura          | 2,545               | 2,798                | 2,964                |
| 23.      | Meghalaya        | 700                 | 951                  | 1,069                |
| 24.      | Sikkim           | 170                 | 212                  | 254                  |
| Total    | Total            | 40,15,147           | 34,27,462            | 49,79,033            |