Lok Sabha Question No. 4018 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-24
Subject: Cases Pending in SC and HCs
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Dileshwar Kamait

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.†4018 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 24 TH MARCH, 2023

## CASES PENDING IN SC AND HCS

## †4018. SHRI DILESHWAR KAMAIT:

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

- (a) the details of pending cases in the Supreme Court (SC) as on 1st of March 2023;
- (b) the details of pending cases in High Courts (HCs) across the country as on 1st of March 2023; and
- (c)  the  details  of  the  steps  taken/plans  being  formulated  by  the  Government  to reduce the pendency of cases in the Supreme Court and High Courts?

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

- (a) & (b): As  per  data  retrieved  from  Integrated  Case  Management  Information System (ICMIS), the number of pending cases as on 01 st March, 2023 at Supreme Court of  India  is  69,379.  As  per  information  available  on  the  National  Judicial  Data  Grid (NJDG),details of pending cases in High Courts, across the country as on 1st of March 2023 is given under Annexure .
- (c): Whiledisposal of pending cases in courts lies within the exclusivedomain of the judiciary,  and  the  Central  Government  has  no  direct  role  in  the  matter,  several  steps

have been taken as detailed below, in collaboration with all the stakeholders including judiciary to facilitate reduction in pendency.

- i. Under  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  for  Judicial  Infrastructure,  funds  are being released to States/UTs for construction of court halls, residential quarters for judicial officers, lawyers' halls, toilet complexes and digital computer rooms that would ease the life of lawyers and litigants, thereby aiding justice delivery. As  on  date,  Rs.  9755.51  croreshave  been  released  since  the  inception  of  the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for  the  Judiciary  in  1993-94.  The  number  of  court  halls  has  increased  from 15,818 as on 30.06.2014 to 21,271 as on 28.02.2023, and number of residential units has increased from 10,211 as on 30.06.2014 to 18,734 as on 28.02.2023, under this scheme.
- ii. Further under the e-Courts Mission Mode Project, information and communication  technology(ICT)  has  been  leveraged  for  IT  enablement  of district and subordinate courts. The number  of computerised district  & subordinate courts has increased to 18,735 so far. WAN connectivity has been provided  to  99.4%  of  court  complexes.    Video  conferencing  facility  has  been enabled between 3,240 court complexes and 1,272 corresponding jails. 689 eSewaKendras  have  been  set  up  at  court  complexes  to  facilitate  lawyers  and litigants needing assistance ranging from case status, getting judgments/orders, court/case-related information, and efiling facilities. 21 virtual courts have been set up in 17 States/UTs. As on 31.01.2023, these courts have handled more than 2.53 crore cases and realized more than Rs. 359 crores in fines. E-courts Phase III  is  about  to  begin  which  intends  to  incorporate  latest  technology  such Artificial Intelligence(AI) and Block chain to make justice delivery more robust, easy and accessible to all the stakeholders.
- iii. Government has been regularly filling up the vacancies in higher judiciary. From 01.05.2014 to 07.03.2023, 54 Judges were appointed in Supreme Court. 887 new Judges were appointed and 646 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 1114 currently. sanctioned and working strength of judicial officers in district and subordinate courts has increased as follow:

| As on      | Sanctioned Strength   | Working Strength   |
|------------|-----------------------|--------------------|
| 31.12.2013 | 19,518                | 15,115             |
| 21.03.2023 | 25,189                | 19,522             |

However,  filling  up  of  vacancies  in  subordinate  judiciary  falls  within  the domain of the State Governments and high courts concerned.

- iv. In pursuance of a Resolution passed in Chief Justices' Conference held in April, 2015, Arrears Committees have been set up in all 25 High Courts to clear cases pending for more than five years.  Arrears Committees have been set up under District courts as well.
- v. Under  the  aegis  of  the  Fourteenth  Finance  Commission  ,the  government  has established  Fast  Track  Courts  for  dealing  with  cases  of  heinous  crimes;  cases involving  senior  citizens,  women,  children  etc.  As  on  31.01.2023,  843  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.  Further,  the  central government  has  approved  a  scheme  for  setting  up  1023  Fast  Track  Special Courts (FTSCs) across the country for the expeditious disposal of pending cases of  Rape under IPC and crimes under POCSO Act. As on date, 28 States/UTs have joined the scheme.
- vi. With a view 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.

- vii. Alternate  Dispute  Resolution  methods  have  been  promoted  wholehearetedly. Accordingly, the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 was amended on 20 th August, 2018  making  Pre-institution  Mediation  and  Settlement  (PIMS)    mandatory  in case  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.
- viii. Lok  Adalat is an important Alternative Disputes  Resolution  Mechanism available to common people. It is a forum where the disputes/ cases pending in the court of law or at pre-litigation stage are settled/ compromised amicably.   Under  the  Legal  Services  Authorities  (LSA)  Act,  1987,  an  award made by a Lok Adalat is deemed to be a decree of a civil court and is final and binding on all parties and no appeal lies against thereto before any court. Lok Adalat is  not  a  permanent  establishment.   National  Lok  Adalats  are  organized simultaneously in all Taluks, Districts and High Courts on a pre-fixed date. The details of the case disposed off in Lok Adalats during the last three years are as under:-
- ix. The Government launched the Tele-Law programme in 2017, which provided an effective and reliable e-interface platform connecting the needy and disadvantaged sections seeking legal advice and consultation with panel lawyers

| Years           | Pre-litigation Cases   | Pending Cases   | Grand Total   |
|-----------------|------------------------|-----------------|---------------|
| 2021            | 72,06,294              | 55,81,743       | 1,27,88,037   |
| 2022            | 3,10,15,215            | 1,09,10,795     | 4,19,26,010   |
| 2023 (till Feb) | 1,75,98,095            | 30,25,724       | 2,06,23,819   |
| Total           | 5,58,19,604            | 1,95,18,262     | 7,53,37,866   |

via video conferencing, telephone and chat facilities available at the Common Service  Centres  (CSCs)  situated  in  Gram  Panchayat  and  through  Tele-Law mobile App.

*Percentage Wise break-up of Tele - Law Data

| Till 28 th Feb, 2023   | Cases Registered    | %Wise Break Up      | Advice Enabled      | %Wise Break Up      |
|------------------------|---------------------|---------------------|---------------------|---------------------|
| Gender Wise            | Gender Wise         | Gender Wise         | Gender Wise         | Gender Wise         |
| Female                 | 11,46,046           | 33.43               | 11,23,504           | 33.49               |
| Male                   | 22,82,642           | 66.57               | 22,31,041           | 66.51               |
| Caste Category Wise    | Caste Category Wise | Caste Category Wise | Caste Category Wise | Caste Category Wise |
| General                | 7,31,346            | 21.33               | 7,12,646            | 21.24               |
| OBC                    | 10,08,050           | 29.40               | 9,83,336            | 29.31               |
| SC                     | 10,86,611           | 31.69               | 10,66,037           | 31.78               |
| ST                     | 6,02,681            | 17.58               | 5,92,526            | 17.66               |
| Total                  | 34,28,688           |                     | 33,54,545           |                     |

- x. Efforts  have  been  made  to  institutionalize  pro  bono  culture  and  pro  bono lawyering the country. A technological framework has been put in place where advocates volunteering to  give  their  time  and  services  for  pro  bono  work  can register as Pro Bono Advocates on Nyaya Bandhu (Android &iOS and Apps). Nyaya Bandhu Services also available on UMANG Platform. Pro Bono Panel of advocates  have  been  initiated  in  21  High  Courts  at  the  State  level.  Pro  Bono Clubs have been started in 69 select Laws Schools to instill Pro Bono culture in budding lawyers.

******

## Annexure

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (A)  &  (B)  OF  LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †4018  FOR ANSWER ON 24.03.2023 REGARDING 'CASES PENDING IN SC AND HCS'.

| Pendency in High Court as on 01.03.2023   | Pendency in High Court as on 01.03.2023   | Pendency in High Court as on 01.03.2023   |
|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| Sl.No                                     | High Court                                | Total No. of Cases                        |
| 1                                         | Allahabad High Court                      | 1029326                                   |
| 2                                         | Bombay High Court                         | 685727                                    |
| 3                                         | Calcutta High Court                       | 206501                                    |
| 4                                         | Gauhati High Court                        | 58576                                     |
| 5                                         | High Court for state of Telangana         | 252339                                    |
| 6                                         | High Court of Andhra Pradesh              | 242280                                    |
| 7                                         | High Court of Chattisgarh                 | 91812                                     |
| 8                                         | High Court of Delhi                       | 106391                                    |
| 9                                         | High Court of Gujarat                     | 161480                                    |
| 10                                        | High Court of Himachal Pradesh            | 92133                                     |
| 11                                        | High Court of Jammu and Kashmir           | 44663                                     |
| 12                                        | High Court of Jharkhand                   | 86388                                     |
| 13                                        | High Court of Karnataka                   | 304553                                    |
| 14                                        | High Court of Kerala                      | 194559                                    |
| 15                                        | High Court of Madhya Pradesh              | 431508                                    |
| 16                                        | High Court of Manipur                     | 4942                                      |
| 17                                        | High Court of Meghalaya                   | 1165                                      |
| 18                                        | High Court of Orissa                      | 156570                                    |
| 19                                        | High Court of Punjab and Haryana          | 440784                                    |
| 20                                        | High Court of Rajasthan                   | 642720                                    |
| 21                                        | High Court of Sikkim                      | 173                                       |
| 22                                        | High Court of Tripura                     | 1366                                      |
| 23                                        | High Court of Uttarakhand                 | 46115                                     |
| 24                                        | Madras High Court                         | 551552                                    |
| 25                                        | Patna High Court                          | 212647                                    |
| Total                                     | Total                                     | 6046270                                   |

Source: - National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG).