Lok Sabha Question No. 1597 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-28
Subject: Pending Court Cases
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Satyadev Pachauri

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

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1597 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 28 TH  JULY, 2021

## PENDING COURT CASES

1597. SHRI SATYADEV PACHAURI:

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

- (a) the details pendency of criminal, civil, etc. cases in the lower courts, fast track courts, and High court of Allahabad including its Lucknow Bench;
- (b) whether the impact of COVID-19 pandemic has increased the numbers of cases in the above courts;
- (c) if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) the details of remedial measures taken by the Government to reduce the pendency of court cases?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE

## (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

- (a): The details of pendency of criminal and civil cases in Allahabad High Court including  Lucknow  Bench,  Subordinate  Courts  and  Fast  Track  Courts  as  on 30.06.2021 are as under:-
- (d):  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.

|   Sl. No. | Courts                                       | Civil     | Criminal   |
|-----------|----------------------------------------------|-----------|------------|
|         1 | Allahabad High Court including Lucknow Bench | 5,68,987  | 4,51,406   |
|         2 | Subordinate courts of Allahabad High Court   | 18,41,155 | 73,94,155  |
|         3 | Fast Track Courts of Uttar Pradesh           |           | 5,43,081   |

(b)&  (c):  The  position  of  cases  since  COVID-19  pandemic  in  respect  of  these courts in as follows:-

|   S. No. | Courts                                | Pendency as on 01.03.2020   | Institution During Period from 01.03.2020 to 30.06.2021   | Disposal During Period from 01.03.2020 to 30.06.2021   | Pendency as on 30.06.2021   |
|----------|---------------------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|
|        1 | High Court of Judicature at Allahabad | 9,43,672                    | 2,74,412                                                  | 1,97,691                                               | 10,20,393                   |
|        2 | District Courts of Uttar Pradesh      | 78,98,125                   | 40,84,054                                                 | 27,41,095                                              | 92,35,310*                  |

|   S. No. | Courts                             | Pendency as on 01.03.2020   | Pendency as on 30.06.2021   |
|----------|------------------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
|        1 | Fast Track Courts of Uttar Pradesh | 3,97,816                    | 5,43,081                    |

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.

- (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 e-SewaKendras 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 croreshas 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             |
| 22.07.2021 | 24,368                | 19,236             |

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.

Further  Allahabad  High  Court  has  informed  that  following  the  advisory  on Covid-19 protocol issued by  the  Government,  a committee of  Hon'ble Judges  was constituted  for  prevention  and  remedial  measures  to  combat  impending  threat  of Corona  Virus.  Complying  with  the  direction  of  Hon'ble  Chief  Justice  and  the Committee, several measures were taken by the High Court Administration. Some of the Guideline & Modalities, which were issued and steps taken during the Covid-19 pandemic in the Allahabad High Court are as follows.

- i. Guideline  &  Modalities  dated  16.03.2020  were  issued,  under  which  only urgent matters were directed to be listed, personal presence of parties  was exempted,  dress  code  of  the  counsel  and  employees  were  declared  to  be suspended and litigants' entry in court premises was restricted.
- ii. As per order dated 30th May 2020, Stamp Reporter Section was directed to not withhold any fresh cases due to any defect.
- iii. On 06.06.2020 an email id was introduced enabling the counsels to join the court proceeding through Video Conferencing. These facilities were extended  by  establishing  cubicles  at  different  locations  in  High  Court premises for On-site facility and by earmarking different cyber cafes as Esewa Kendras.
- iv. Keeping in view the convenience of advocates and litigants, two software, namely, Jitsi Meet Software and Cisco WebEx  software have been introduced for virtual hearing.
- v. Maximum  efforts  have  been  made  for  promotion  of  E-mode  filing  and hearing through video conferencing.
- vi. Directions were issued to all the District Judges regarding preference of the cases for listing immediately on re-opening of Subordinate Courts. The type of cases identified for immediate disposal is as under:-

| Name of the Court                                                    | Type of Cases                                                                                                      |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| In the courts of District Judges/Addl. District Judges including FTC | Civil Appeal, Civil Revision, Criminal Appeal, Criminal Revision, Cases of Final Argument Stage, Under Trial cases |
| In the Courts of CJM/ACJM/JM and other related courts                | Petty Cases, U/s 320, 256, 257, 258, 203, 394 of CrPC, Committal Cases & Under Trial Cases.                        |
| In the Courts of Civil Judge(SD)/(JD) and Family Courts              | Compromise U/O 23R(3), Withdrawl U/O 23R(1), Succession Cases & Final Argument Stage                               |
| Cases identified for immediate Disposal                              | Cases U/S 156(3) of CrPC & Cases of Final Reports.                                                                 |

In  addition,  petty  criminal  cases  U/s  188  IPC  and  under  the  M.V.  Act registered  during  lock  down  period,  where  challan/police  report  is  filed,  were also to be taken/disposed off on priority basis.