Lok Sabha Question No. 686 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-20
Subject: Lack of Infrastructure in Courts
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Sudhakar Tukaram Shrangre, Ravneet Singh, Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu, P.P. Chaudhary, Pratima Bhoumik

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 686

TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 20 TH  NOVEMBER, 2019.

Lack of Infrastructure in Courts

## 686.    SHRI SUDHAKAR TUKARAM SHRANGARE:

SHRI RAVNEET SINGH BITTU:

SHRI LAVU SRI KRISHNA DEVARAYALU:

SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY:

MS. PRATIMA BHOUMIK:

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

- (a) whether a large number of subordinate courts in various States including Maharashtra  and  Rajasthan  do  not  have  sufficient  infrastructure,  including suitable court buildings/rooms and residential quarters;
- (b)
- if so, the details thereof, district and taluka-wise;
- (c) the  amount  of  funds  released  under  Central  schemes  for  providing sufficient infrastructure in subordinate courts, State-wise;
- (d) whether there are any pending funds to be released to States under any Central  schemes  for  infrastructure  purposes  in  subordinate  courts  including Rajasthan, Tripura and Maharashtra State and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the  details  of  constraints  being  faced  by  the  Government  to  help  State Government  in  dealing  with  infrastructural  challenges  being  faced  by  lower judiciary and the steps taken to address the same?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a) & (b):  As per the information provided by the High Courts, 19,414 court halls are available for District and Subordinate Courts in the country for the working strength of 17,342 Judicial Officers. In addition, 2,822 court halls are under construction. 17,103 residential  units  are  available  for  Judicial  Officers  of  Subordinate  Courts  and  1,869 residential  units  are  under  construction.  A  statement  showing  State-wise  number of court  halls,  residential  units  available  &  under  construction  and  number  of  working strength of  Judicial  Officers  in  the  country,  including  Maharashtra and  Rajasthan,  is given in Annexure I.

(c): A Centrally  Sponsored Scheme for development of infrastructure facilities for the judiciary is being implemented from 1993-94 under which financial assistance is provided to State Governments/UTs for construction of court buildings and residential units  of  Judicial  Officers  of  District  and  Subordinate  Courts.  A  sum  of Rs.  7453.10 crore has been sanctioned since the inception of the Scheme, of which Rs. 4008.80 crore  has  been  sanctioned  since  2014-15  which  is  around 54% of  the  total  release under the Scheme. A statement showing State-wise release of funds to States/UTs under the Scheme is given in Annexure II .

(d): Rs. 710.00 crore has been allocated under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for development of infrastructure facilities for the judiciary in the current financial year 2019-20, of which Rs. 702.86 crore has been released till 14.11.2019. Rs. 7.14 crore has been withheld to be released to Jammu & Kashmir due to bifurcation of the State. The statement showing State-wise release of funds to States/UTs given in Annexure II also include funds released to Rajasthan, Tripura and Maharashtra.

(e): It  is  the  primary  responsibility  of  the  State  Governments  to  provide  Judicial Infrastructure  for  District  and  Subordinate  Courts  in  their  respective  States.    The aforesaid  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  is  being  implemented  to  augment  the resources of State Governments/UTs for construction of court buildings and residential units  of  Judicial  Officers  of  District  and  Subordinate  Courts.  Considerable  progress has been made with regard to court buildings and residential units for judicial officers in  last  five  years. The number of court halls available has increased from 15,818 in 2014  to  19,414  in  2019  and  number  of  residential  units available  has  increased from 10,211  in  2014  to  17,103  in  2019. Focus  is  now  to  match  the  number  of availability  of  court  halls  and  residential  units  with  23,566  number  of  sanctioned strength of Judicial Officers in District and Subordinate Courts.

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## Statement  referred  to  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.  686  for  Reply  on 20.11.2019

Statement showing State-wise number of court halls, residential units available & under construction and number of working strength of Judicial Officers.

| Sl. No.   | State / UT          |   Total Working Strength |   Total Court Halls |   Total Court Halls Under Construction |   Total Residential Units |   Total Residential Units Under Construction |
|-----------|---------------------|--------------------------|---------------------|----------------------------------------|---------------------------|----------------------------------------------|
| 1.        | Andaman and Nicobar |                       12 |                  17 |                                      0 |                        10 |                                            2 |
| 2.        | Andhra Pradesh      |                      530 |                 602 |                                     50 |                       604 |                                           11 |
| 3.        | Arunachal Pradesh   |                       27 |                  24 |                                      0 |                        24 |                                            0 |
| 4.        | Assam               |                      388 |                 371 |                                     67 |                       294 |                                           31 |
| 5.        | Bihar               |                      361 |                1485 |                                    159 |                      1094 |                                          280 |
| 6.        | Chandigarh          |                       29 |                  31 |                                      0 |                        30 |                                            0 |
| 7.        | Chhattisgarh        |                      394 |                 462 |                                     31 |                       408 |                                           18 |
| 8.        | D & N Haveli        |                        3 |                   3 |                                      0 |                         3 |                                            0 |
| 9.        | Daman & Diu         |                        4 |                   5 |                                      0 |                         5 |                                            0 |
| 10.       | Delhi               |                      680 |                 529 |                                     90 |                       350 |                                           70 |
| 11.       | Goa                 |                       43 |                  55 |                                     28 |                        27 |                                            4 |
| 12.       | Gujarat             |                     1183 |                1501 |                                    165 |                      1292 |                                           84 |
| 13.       | Haryana             |                      479 |                 551 |                                     81 |                       499 |                                          100 |
| 14.       | Himachal Pradesh    |                      153 |                 160 |                                      6 |                       149 |                                            0 |
| 15.       | Jammu and Kashmir   |                      232 |                 202 |                                     35 |                       123 |                                           38 |
| 16.       | Jharkhand           |                      463 |                 601 |                                     61 |                       567 |                                           63 |
| 17.       | Karnataka           |                     1104 |                1095 |                                     49 |                      1110 |                                           14 |
| 18.       | Kerala              |                      461 |                 510 |                                     37 |                       476 |                                            0 |
| 19.       | Lakshadweep         |                        3 |                   3 |                                      0 |                         3 |                                            0 |
| 20.       | Madhya Pradesh      |                     1505 |                1445 |                                    406 |                      1459 |                                          237 |
| 21.       | Maharashtra         |                     1937 |                2257 |                                    322 |                      2038 |                                          173 |
| 22.       | Manipur             |                       39 |                  38 |                                      9 |                        16 |                                            1 |
| 23.       | Meghalaya           |                       49 |                  53 |                                     35 |                        23 |                                           33 |
| 24.       | Mizoram             |                       46 |                  43 |                                     26 |                        29 |                                            8 |
| 25.       | Nagaland            |                       27 |                  37 |                                      0 |                        39 |                                            2 |
| 26.       | Odisha              |                      773 |                 636 |                                    201 |                       608 |                                           85 |
| 27.       | Puducherry          |                       11 |                  29 |                                      7 |                        23 |                                            6 |
| 28.       | Punjab              |                      582 |                 557 |                                     52 |                       527 |                                           48 |
| 29.       | Rajasthan           |                     1122 |                1152 |                                    210 |                      1028 |                                            5 |
| 30.       | Sikkim              |                       19 |                  20 |                                      1 |                        14 |                                            1 |
| 31.       | Tamil Nadu          |                     1087 |                1095 |                                    116 |                      1216 |                                           55 |
| 32.       | Telangana           |                      334 |                 448 |                                     28 |                       417 |                                            1 |
| 33.       | Tripura             |                       95 |                  73 |                                     23 |                        85 |                                           13 |
| 34.       | Uttar Pradesh       |                     2012 |                2278 |                                    332 |                      1937 |                                          401 |
| 35.       | Uttarakhand         |                      227 |                 228 |                                     72 |                       185 |                                           10 |
| 36.       | West Bengal         |                      928 |                 818 |                                    123 |                       391 |                                           75 |
|           | Total               |                    17342 |               19414 |                                   2822 |                     17103 |                                         1869 |

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Annexure-II

## Statement  referred  to  Lok  Sabha  Un-satarred  Question  No.  686  for  Reply  on 20.11.2019

Statement showing State-wise release of funds under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for development of infrastructure facilities for the judiciary.

(Rs. in Lakhs)

| Sl. No.   | State / UT           |   Funds Sanctioned (1993-94 to 2019-20) |
|-----------|----------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| 1.        | Andhra Pradesh       |                                17964.5  |
| 2.        | Bihar                |                                33725.7  |
| 3.        | Chhattisgarh         |                                10132.1  |
| 4.        | Goa                  |                                 1520.93 |
| 5.        | Gujarat              |                                53415.4  |
| 6.        | Haryana              |                                18383.4  |
| 7.        | Himachal Pradesh     |                                 4112    |
| 8.        | Jammu & Kashmir      |                                19481.6  |
| 9.        | Jharkhand            |                                18520.5  |
| 10.       | Karnataka            |                                66077.9  |
| 11.       | Kerala               |                                13251.3  |
| 12.       | Madhya Pradesh       |                                47745    |
| 13.       | Maharashtra          |                                68083.9  |
| 14.       | Odisha               |                                14843.3  |
| 15.       | Punjab               |                                51809.9  |
| 16.       | Rajasthan            |                                22672.5  |
| 17.       | Tamil Nadu           |                                23611.5  |
| 18.       | Telengana            |                                 1565    |
| 19.       | Uttarakhand          |                                13619.2  |
| 20.       | Uttar Pradesh        |                               110161    |
| 21.       | West Bengal          |                                20352.5  |
| 22.       | Arunachal Pradesh    |                                 5025.44 |
| 23.       | Assam                |                                20134.3  |
| 24.       | Manipur              |                                 7694.71 |
| 25.       | Meghalaya            |                                11147    |
| 26.       | Mizoram              |                                 6820.29 |
| 27.       | Nagaland             |                                11116.6  |
| 28.       | Sikkim               |                                 5165.39 |
| 29.       | Tripura              |                                 8435.45 |
| 30.       | A & N Islands        |                                 1486.23 |
| 31.       | Chandigarh           |                                 3900.95 |
| 32.       | Dadra & Nagar Haveli |                                  706.25 |
| 33.       | Daman & Diu          |                                  232.43 |
| 34.       | Delhi                |                                26106.4  |
| 35.       | Lakshadweep          |                                   51.25 |
| 36.       | Puducherry           |                                 6239.56 |
| Total     |                      |                               745311    |

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