Lok Sabha Question No. 3704 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-11
Subject: Speedy Disposal of Cases
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: S. Jothimani

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

## LOK  SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3704

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 11 th  DECEMBER, 2019.

## Speedy Disposal of Cases

## 3704.  MS.S.JOTHIMANI:

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

- (a)    the  details  of  measures  taken  by  the  Government for the  speedy  disposal  of  the cases and improving the efficacy of the legal justice system;
- (b)    the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  expand  the  judicial  infrastructure  for  the timely delivery of justice;
- (c)  State-wise number of vacancies in judicial positions; and
- (d)    the  reforms  to  be  undertaken  by  the  Government  to  improve  the  quality  of  legal education and practice?

## ANSWER

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

## (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a)  and  (b):  The  Union  Government  is  committed  to  speedy  disposal  of  cases  and reduction  in  pendency  of  cases.  The  National  Mission  for  Justice  Delivery  and  Legal Reforms 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 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, Rs.4,008.80 crores (which is 53.79% 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  19,489  as  on  05.12.2019  and  number  of  residential  units  has increased from 10,211 as on 30.06.2014 to 17,090 as on 05.12.2019 under this scheme.  In  addition,  2,802  court  halls  and  1,831  residential  units  are  under construction.
- (ii) Leveraging  Information  and  Communication  Technology  (ICT)  for  improved justice delivery: Government has been implementing the e-Courts 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 has been 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. Video Conferencing facility has been enabled between 3240 court complexes and 1272 corresponding jails.
- (iii) Filling  up  of  vacant  positions  in  Supreme  Court,  High  Courts  and  District  and Subordinate Courts: From 01.05.2014 to 05.12.2019, 35 Judges were appointed in Supreme Court. 495 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:

| As on      | Sanctioned Strength   | Working Strength   |
|------------|-----------------------|--------------------|
| 31.12.2013 | 19,518                | 15,115             |
| 05.12.2019 | 23,597                | 18,144             |

- (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 pre-institution 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:  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.  As  on  30.09.2019,  704  Fast  Track  Courts  are  functional  for heinous  crimes,  crimes  against  women  and  children,  family  and  matrimonial disputes, etc. To fast track criminal cases involving elected MPs / MLAs, ten (10) Special  Courts  are  functional  in  nine  (9)  States  (1  each  in  Madhya  Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and 2 in NCT of Delhi) and proportionate funds have been released to these States by the Government. Further, Government has approved a  scheme  for  setting  up  1023  Fast  Track  Special  Courts  (FTSCs)  across  the country for expeditious disposal of pending cases of Rape under IPC and crimes under POCSO Act. As on date, 15 States have joined the scheme for setting up

of 420 FTSCs and 203 exclusive POCSO courts. Rs.89.1 crore (out of the total allocation of Rs.100 crore) has already been released as the first instalment to these 15 States.

(c): The  vacancies  of  Judges  in  Supreme  Court  and  various  High  Courts  and vacancies  of  Judicial  Officers  in  District  and  Subordinate  Courts,  State  /  UT-wise  is given in a statement at Annexure-I and Annexure -II respectively.

(d): Projects titled 'Global practices in Continuing Legal Education:  Emerging Platforms  for  Professional  Developments  of  Advocates'  and  'Role  of  Clinical  Legal Education in improving the quality of Legal Education and increasing access to justice to the marginalized in the State of Gujarat' have been sanctioned to Indian Institute of Management, Kashipur and Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar respectively under the Scheme for Action Research and Studies on Judicial Reforms.

*****

## Vacancies of Judges in the Supreme Court and High Courts

| Sl. No.   | Name of the Court                                                               | 2019 As on 01.12.2019   |
|-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------|
|           | Supreme Court                                                                   | 01                      |
|           | High Court                                                                      |                         |
| 1         | Allahabad                                                                       | 60                      |
| 2         | Andhra Pradesh                                                                  | 22                      |
| 3         | Bombay                                                                          | 29                      |
| 4         | Calcutta                                                                        | 32                      |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh                                                                    | 07                      |
| 6         | Delhi                                                                           | 23                      |
| 7         | Gauhati                                                                         | 03                      |
| 8         | Gujarat                                                                         | 24                      |
| 9         | Himachal Pradesh                                                                | 03                      |
| 10        | High Court for Union territory of Jammu & Kashmir and Union territory of Ladakh | 09                      |
| 11        | Jharkhand                                                                       | 06                      |
| 12        | Karnataka                                                                       | 22                      |
| 13        | Kerala                                                                          | 15                      |
| 14        | Madhya Pradesh                                                                  | 22                      |
| 15        | Madras                                                                          | 21                      |
| 16        | Manipur                                                                         | 01                      |
| 17        | Meghalaya                                                                       | 01                      |
| 18        | Orissa                                                                          | 13                      |
| 19        | Patna                                                                           | 26                      |
| 20        | Punjab& Haryana                                                                 | 29                      |
| 21        | Rajasthan                                                                       | 29                      |
| 22        | Sikkim                                                                          | 00                      |
| 23        | Telangana                                                                       | 11                      |
| 24        | Tripura                                                                         | 01                      |
| 25        | Uttarakhand                                                                     | 01                      |
|           | Total                                                                           | 410                     |

## Annexure - II

## Vacancies of Judicial Officers in District and Subordinate Courts, State/UT-wise, as on 05.12.2019

| Sl. No.   | States & UTs        |   Vacancy |
|-----------|---------------------|-----------|
| 1.        | Andaman and Nicobar |       -13 |
| 2.        | Andhra Pradesh      |        68 |
| 3.        | Arunachal Pradesh   |        14 |
| 4.        | Assam               |        29 |
| 5.        | Bihar               |       695 |
| 6.        | Chandigarh          |         1 |
| 7.        | Chhattisgarh        |        74 |
| 8.        | D & N Haveli        |         0 |
| 9.        | Daman & Diu         |         1 |
| 10.       | Delhi               |       119 |
| 11.       | Goa                 |         7 |
| 12.       | Gujarat             |       321 |
| 13.       | Haryana             |       297 |
| 14.       | Himachal Pradesh    |        23 |
| 15.       | Jammu and Kashmir   |        58 |
| 16.       | Jharkhand           |       215 |
| 17.       | Karnataka           |       239 |
| 18.       | Kerala              |        75 |
| 19.       | Lakshadweep         |         0 |
| 20.       | Madhya Pradesh      |       517 |
| 21.       | Maharashtra         |       247 |
| 22.       | Manipur             |        16 |
| 23.       | Meghalaya           |        48 |
| 24.       | Mizoram             |        18 |
| 25.       | Nagaland            |         8 |
| 26.       | Odisha              |       148 |
| 27.       | Puducherry          |        15 |
| 28.       | Punjab              |        96 |
| 29.       | Rajasthan           |       307 |
| 30.       | Sikkim              |         6 |
| 31.       | Tamil Nadu          |       137 |
| 32.       | Telangana           |        79 |
| 33.       | Tripura             |        24 |
| 34.       | Uttar Pradesh       |      1404 |
| 35.       | Uttarakhand         |        66 |
| 36.       | West Bengal         |        94 |
| Total     | Total               |      5453 |