Lok Sabha Question No. 1021 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-22
Subject: Policy for Eliminating Corruption in Judiciary
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Malook Nagar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †1021 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 22 ND  JULY, 2022

## POLICY FOR ELIMINATING CORRUPTION IN JUDICIARY

## †1021. SHRI MALOOK NAGAR:

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

- (a) the details of steps taken/being taken by the Government to eliminate corruption in the judiciary;
- (b)  the  policies  of  the  Government  to  clear  the  backlog  of  pending  cases  which  is highest on the world; and
- (c)  whether  the  Government  is  working  on  any  policy  to  address  the  issues  like shortage of court, vacant posts of judges etc., which are the major cause of pending of cases in the country?

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

- (a): The issue of checking corruption in the judiciary is to be addressed by the judiciary itself, as it is an independent organ under the Indian Constitution.  Accountability in higher judiciary  is  maintained  through  ' in-house  procedure '  adopted  by  the  Supreme  Court  in Full Court meeting held on 7 th May, 1997.  As per the ' in-house procedure, ' Chief Justice of  India  is  competent  to  receive  complaints  against  the  conduct  of  the  Judges  of  the Supreme Court and the Chief Justices of the High Courts.  Similarly, the Chief Justices of the  High Courts are competent to receive complaints against the conduct of High Court Judges.  Further, as per Article 235 of the Constitution of India, the control over District Courts and Courts subordinate thereto vests in the High Court.

Complaints and representations regarding allegation of corruption received are dealt with by the Chief Justice of India or by the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court, as the case may be, for appropriate action.  Similarly, complaints / representations against member of Subordinate Judiciary received are forwarded to the Registrar General of the concerned High Court, for appropriate action.

(b): The number of cases pending in Supreme Court of India, High Courts and District & Subordinate Courts in the country is as under:-

|   Sl. No. | Name of Court                | Pendency as on             |
|-----------|------------------------------|----------------------------|
|         1 | Supreme Court of India       | 72,062 (01.07.2022)*       |
|         2 | High Courts                  | 59,45,709 (15.07.2022)**   |
|         3 | District &Subordinate Courts | 4,19,79,353 (15.07.2022)** |

Source *Website of Supreme Court of India.

**National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG).

Disposal of pending cases in courts is within the domain of the judiciary.  No time frame has been prescribed for disposal of various kinds of cases by the respective courts. Government has no direct role in disposal of cases in courts. Timely disposal of cases in courts depends on several factors which, inter-alia, include availability of adequate number of judges and judicial officers, supporting court staff and physical infrastructure, complexity  of  facts  involved,  nature  of  evidence,  co-operation  of  stake  holders  viz.  bar, investigation agencies, witnesses and  litigants and  proper application of rules and procedures. There are several factors which may lead to delay in disposal of cases.  These, inter-alia,  include  vacancies  of  judges,  frequent  adjournments  and  lack  of  adequate arrangement  to  monitor,  track  and  bunch  cases  for  hearing.  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  eight  years  under  various  initiatives  are  as follows:

## (i) Improving  infrastructure  for  Judicial  Officers  of  District  and  Subordinate

Courts: As  on  date,  Rs.  9,13.21  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 20,993 as on 30.06.2022 and number of residential units has increased from 10,211 as on 30.06.2014 to 18,502 as on 30.06.2022 under this scheme. In addition, 2,777 court  halls  and  1,659  residential  units  are  under  construction  (as  per  MIS  data).  The Centrally Sponsored Scheme for the Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary has been extended till 2025-26 at a total cost of Rs. 9,000 crore, out of which central share will be Rs. 5,307 crore. 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  to  18,735  so  far.  WAN  connectivity  has  been  provided  to  99.3%  of  court complexes.  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 04.07.2022, litigants can access case status of  over  20.86  crore  cases  and  18.02  crore  order/judgments  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 3,240 court complexes and 1,272 corresponding jails. With a view to handle the COVID- 19 challenges better and to make the transition to virtual hearings smoother, 500 e-Sewa Kendras 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. Rs. 5.01 crore has been allocated for providing equipment in video conferencing cabins in various court complexes to facilitate virtual hearings. Rs. 12.12 crore has been allocated for 1,732 Help desk counters for efiling in various court complexes.

Twenty virtual courts have been set up in 16 States/UTs viz. Delhi (2), Haryana, Tamil  Nadu,  Karnataka,  Kerala  (2),  Maharashtra  (2),  Assam,  Chhattisgarh,  Jammu  & Kashmir  (2),  Uttar  Pradesh,  Odisha,  Meghalaya,  Himachal  Pradesh,  Madhya  Pradesh, Tripura  and  West  Bengal  to  try  traffic  offences.  As  on  03.03.2022,  these  courts  have handled more than 1.69 crore cases and realized more than Rs. 271.48 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 1,28,76,549  cases  while  the  High  Court  heard  63,76,561  cases  (totalling  1.92  crore)  till 30.04.2022 using video conferencing. The Supreme Court had 2,61,338 hearings since the lockdown period upto 13.06.2022.

## (iii) Filling up of vacant positions in Supreme Court, High Courts and District and

Subordinate  Courts: From  01.05.2014  to  15.07.2022,  46  judges  were  appointed  in Supreme  Court.  769  new  judges  were  appointed  and  619  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 1,108 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             |
| 15.07.2022 | 24,631                | 19,289             |

However, 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. In the past, Minister of Law & Justice has taken up the matter with Chief Justices of High Courts and Chief Ministers drawing their attention to cases pending for more than five years and to take up pendency reduction campaign. The Department  has  developed  an  online  portal  for  reporting  by  all  High  Courts  on  the compliance of Arrears Eradication Scheme guidelines of the Malimath Committee Report.
- (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 31.5.2022,  892 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,Rs. 160 crore has been released during the financial year 2020-21 and Rs. 134.557 crore has been released during the financial year 2021-22 for the scheme. 728 FTSC are functional 408 exclusive POCSO Courts, which disposed 1,02,344 cases as on 30.6.2022.

(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.

(c): Filling  up  of  vacancies  in  the  High  Courts  is  a  continuous,  integrated  and collaborative process between the Executive and the Judiciary. It requires consultation and approval from various Constitutional Authorities both at the State and Centre level.  While every effort is made to fill up the existing vacancies expeditiously, vacancies of Judges in

High  Courts  do  keep  on  arising  on  account  of  retirement,  resignation  or  elevation  of Judges and also due to increase in the strength of Judges.

Under Article 235 of the Constitution of India, the administrative control over the members of district and subordinate judiciary in the States vest with the concerned High Court.  Further,  in  exercise  of  powers  conferred  under  proviso  to  Article  309  read  with Articles 233 and 234 of the constitution, the respective State Government, in consultation with the High Court, frames the Rules and Regulations regarding the issue of appointment, promotion, reservations and retirement of Judicial Officers in the State Judicial Service. Hence, in so far as recruitment of judicial officers in the States is concerned, respective High Courts do it in certain States, whereas the High Courts do it in consultation with the State Public Service Commissions in other States.

The Union Government does not have a role under the Constitution in the selection and appointment of judicial officers in District/ subordinate judiciary. The Supreme Court, in its orders of 04 th January, 2007 in Malik Mazhar case, has devised a process and time frame  to  be  followed  for  the  filling  up  of  vacancies  in  subordinate  judiciary  which stipulates  that  the  process  for  recruitment  of  judges  in  the  subordinate  courts  would commence on 31st March of a calendar year and end by 31st October of the same year. The Supreme Court has permitted State Governments / High Courts for variations in the time  schedule  in  case  of  any  difficulty  based  on  the  peculiar  geographical  and  climatic conditions in the State or other relevant conditions.

Further, in compliance of the above directions of the Supreme Court, Department of Justice forwarded a copy of the Malik Mazhar judgement to Registrars General of all High Courts  for  necessary  action.  Department  of  Justice  is  writing  from  time  to  time  to Registrars General of all High Courts to expedite the filling up of vacancies in subordinate judiciary mandated by Malik Mazhar case.

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