Lok Sabha Question No. 2738 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-04
Subject: Pending Court Cases
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Anubhav Mohanty

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2738 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 04 th  AUGUST, 2021

## PENDING COURT CASES

## 2738. SHRI ANUBHAV MOHANTY:

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

- (a)  whether  there  are millions of cases pending  for years in  lower  and subordinate courts;
- (b) if so, the details of number of cases pending and their duration;
- (c) whether the Government has taken any major step to effectively reduce the pendency of cases in the lower/subordinate courts; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

- (a) & (b):  As per the information available on National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), as on 30.07.2021 a total of 3,93,21,607 cases are pending in the lower and subordinate courts with following duration:-
- (c) & (d): Disposal of pending cases in courts is within the domain of the judiciary.

| Duration       | Civil cases     | Criminal cases   | Total            |
|----------------|-----------------|------------------|------------------|
| 0 to 1 Years   | 3094805(29.45%) | 8613473(29.9%)   | 11708278(29.78%) |
| 1 to 3 Years   | 3371449(32.08%) | 8560192(29.71%)  | 11931641(30.34%) |
| 3 to 5 Years   | 1687366(16.05%) | 4601417(15.97%)  | 6288783(15.99%)  |
| 5 to 10 Years  | 1644638(15.65%) | 4440725(15.41%)  | 6085363(15.48%)  |
| 10 to 20 Years | 557716(5.31%)   | 2160080(7.5%)    | 2717796(6.91%)   |
| 20 to 30 Years | 116615(1.24%)   | 371130(1.24%)    | 487745(1.24%)    |
| Above 30 Years | 37423(0.36%)    | 64578(0.22%)     | 102001(0.26%)    |
| Total          | 10510012        | 28811595         | 39321607         |

No  time  frame  has  been  prescribed  for  disposal  of  various  kinds  of  cases  by  the respective courts.  Government has no role in disposal of cases in courts.  The Central Government is fully committed to speedy disposal of cases in accordance with Article 21  of  the  Constitution  and  reducing  pendency.    The  Government  has  taken  several initiatives  to  provide  an  ecosystem  for  faster  disposal  of  cases  by  the  judiciary. National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms was set up in August, 2011 with  the  twin  objectives  of  increasing  access  by  reducing  delays  and  arrears  in  the system  and  enhancing  accountability  through  structural  changes  and  by  setting performance standards and capacities.  The Mission has been pursuing a co-ordinated approach  for  phased  liquidation  of  arrears  and  pendency  in  judicial  administration, which, inter-alia, involves better infrastructure for courts including computerization, increase  in  strength  of  subordinate  judiciary,  policy  and  legislative  measures  in  the areas  prone  to  excessive  litigation,  re-engineering  of  court  procedure  for  quick disposal of cases and emphasis on human resource development.

The  major  steps  taken  during  the  last  six  years  under  various  initiatives  are  as follows:

- (i) Improving infrastructure for Judicial Officers of District and Subordinate Courts: As  on  date,  Rs.  8,644.00  crores  have  been  released  since  the  inception  of  the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary in 1993-94. The number of court halls has increased from 15,818 as on 30.06.2014  to  20,218  as  on  22.07.2021  and  number  of  residential  units  has increased  from  10,211  as  on  30.06.2014  to  17,815  as  on  22.07.2021  under  this scheme.  In  addition,  2,693  court  halls  and  1,852  residential  units  are  under construction. The Centrally Sponsored Scheme for the Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary has been extended till 2025-26 at a total cost of  Rs.  9000 crores, out of which Central share will be Rs. 5307 crores. Besides, construction of Court Halls and Residential Units, it would also cover construction of Lawyer's Halls, Toilet Complexes and Digital Computer Rooms.
- (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 (in 2014) to 18,735 as on 01.07.2021,  registering  an  increase  of  5,063.    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). As on 01.07.2021, litigants can access case status of over 18.77 crore cases and 14.61 crore order/judgements pertaining to these courts. 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. With a view to handle the COVID- 19 challenges better and to make the transition to  virtual  hearings  smoother,  funds  have  been  provided  for  setting  up  235  eSewaKendras  at  court  complexes  to  facilitate  lawyers  and  litigants  needing assistance ranging from case status, getting judgements/orders,  court/case related information and efiling facilities. Rs. 5.01 crores has been allocated for providing equipment in Video Conferencing cabins in various court complexes to facilitate virtual hearings. Rs. 12.12 crores has been allocated for 1732 Help desk counters for efiling in various court complexes.

Twelve  Virtual  Courts  have  been  set  up  at  Delhi  (2  courts),  Faridabad (Haryana), Pune & Nagpur (Maharashtra) Kochi (Kerala), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Guwahati  (Assam)  and  Bengaluru  (Karnataka)  to  try  traffic  offences.  As  on 12.07.2021, these courts have handled 75 lakh cases and realised Rs.160.05 crore in fines.

Video  conferencing  emerged  as  the  mainstay  of  the  Courts  during  the  Covid lockdown  period  as  physical  hearings  and  normal  court  proceedings  in  the congregational mode were not possible. Since Covid lockdown started, the District courts heard 74,15,989 cases while the High Court heard 40,43,300 cases (totalling to  1.14  crore)  till  30.06.2021 using video conferencing only. The Supreme Court had 96,239 hearings since the lockdown period upto 09.07.2021.

- (iii) Filling  up  of  vacant  positions  in  Supreme  Court,  High  Courts  and  District  and Subordinate Courts: From 01.05.2014 to 01.03.2021, 35 Judges were appointed in Supreme Court. 602 new Judges were appointed and 551Additional Judges were made permanent in the High Courts. Sanctioned strength of Judges of High Courts has  been  increased  from  906  in  May,  2014  to  1098  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             |
| 29.07.2021 | 24,368                | 19,259             |

Filling up of vacancies in Subordinate judiciary falls within the domain of the State Governments and High Courts concerned.

- (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.

Further Communications have been addressed by Minister of Law & Justice to Chief Justices of High Courts and to Chief Ministers on 20.06.2014 and 14.08.2018 drawing their attention  to cases pending for  more than five  years  and to take up pendency reduction campaign.

- (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 30.04.2021,  870  Fast  Track  Courts  are  functional  for  heinous  crimes,  crimes against women and children etc. To fast track criminal cases involving elected MPs /  MLAs, ten (10) Special Courts are functional in nine (9) States/UTs (1 each in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,  Uttar  Pradesh,  West  Bengal  and  2  in  NCT  of  Delhi).  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, 28 States/UTs have joined the scheme for setting up of 842 FTSCs including 363 'exclusive POCSO Courts'. Rs.140 crore was released in the financial year 2019-20 and Rs. 160.00 crore has been released during the financial year 2020-21 for the scheme. Rs. 39.77 crore has been released till June 2021 for Financial Year 2021-22. 640 FTSCs are functional

including  338  exclusive  POCSO  Courts,  which  disposed  50484  cases  as  on 31.05.2021.

- (vii) In addition, to reduce pendency and unclogging of the courts the Government has recently amended various laws like the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Act, 2018,  the  Commercial  Courts  (Amendment)  Act,  2018,  the  Specific  Relief (Amendment) Act, 2018, the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2019 and the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2018.

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