Lok Sabha Question No. 445 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-03
Subject: Cases Pending in Courts
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Chandrani Murmu, Arun Kumar Sagar, Anumula Revanth Reddy, Rajendra Dhedya  Gavit, M. K. Raghavan, Ashok Mahadeorao Nete, Naranbhai Bhikhabhai Kachhadiya, S. Gnanathiraviam, Adala Prabhakara Reddy, Ashok Kumar Rawat, Kotha Prabhakar  Reddy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 445 ANSWERED ON 03   /02/ 2023

## CASES PENDING IN COURTS

## 445.    MS. CHANDRANI MURMU:

SHRI GNANATHIRAVIAM S.:

- SHRI ANUMULA REVANTH REDDY:

SHRI NARANBHAI KACHHADIYA:

- SHRI ARUN KUMAR SAGAR:

SHRI M.K. RAGHAVAN:

- SHRI RAJENDRA DHEDYA GAVIT:

SHRI ASHOK MAHADEORAO NETE:

- SHRI ADALA PRABHAKARA REDDY:

SHRI ASHOK KUMAR RAWAT:

SHRI KOTHA PRABHAKAR REDDY:

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

- (a) whether a number of cases including civil and criminal are pending in SC, HCs and Lower Courts with some dating back to 1970s, if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor, court/case and State/UT-wise;
- (b) whether pendency of cases in the said courts have exponentially increased during the last three years, if so, the details thereof, court and State-wise;
- (c) the remedial measures taken in this regard;
- (d) whether the Government proposes to set up special courts/Tribunals and amend the Civil Procedure Act, 1908 to ensure speedy disposal of matters, if so, the details thereof
- and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (e) the details of measures taken/to be taken to reduce the pendency of cases and to ensure faster  and  timely  disposal  of  cases  across  different  levels  of  judiciary  functioning  with optimum capacity and the progress made in this respect?

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

- (a): As per data retrieved from the Integrated Case Management Information System
- (ICMIS), there are no pending cases in Supreme Court of India for more than 42 years. In

case of the High Courts and the District and Subordinate Courts, there are 3642 and 2979 pending casesrespectively, dating back to period 1970-79 as per the data available on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) on 01.02.2023.The detailed statement, showing yearwise  number  of  pending  cases  since1970s  (1970-1979)  in  concerned  High  Courts  and State/UT is at Annexure-I & II respectively.

(b): On an average, based on the data available with the Department, it is stated that the pendency of cases in the various courts of the country have increased in the last three years i.e. 2020, 2021 and 2022. The detailed statement, as provided by the Supreme Court of India, showing the pendency of cases during the last three years in the Supreme Court, various High Courts and State-wise District & Subordinate Courts is at Annexure-III, IV and V .

(c): In so far as the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India is concerned, consistent efforts are being made to list maximum number of cases as far as possible. During the COVID19 pandemic hearing of cases was done through video conferencing mode. The Supreme Court  had  3,79,954  hearing  through  video  conferencing  since  the  lockdown  upto 24.12.2022.  In  furtherance  of  reducing  pendency,  it  was  directed  to  list  10  Transfer Petitions and 10 Bail Matters before each Hon'ble Court on all the five days of the week. Besides  this  in  order  to  accelerate  the  listing  of  fresh  as  well  as  other  miscellaneous matter, Tuesday of the week has also been fixed for listing such matters. In order to clear the backlog of pending fresh cases, miscellaneous weeks are being declared from time to time  so  that  maximum  number of cases can be listed. Special  Benches have also been constituted  to  dispose  of  old  cases  relating  to  Compensation,  Direct  &  Indirect  taxes, service  and  Criminal  Cases.  On  Regular  hearing  days,  old  regular  hearing  matters  are being listed before these courts. Multi-pronged endeavors are being launched to reduce pendency  of  cases  in  the  near  future.  Similarly,  efforts  are  on  in  the  High  Courts  and District & Subordinate Courts to reduce pendency at their levels.

(d): In order to reduce pendency  and  ensure  speedy  disposal of matters, 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.

In order tostrengthen the judicial system in States, Fast Track Courts have been established for cases of heinous crimes; cases involving senior citizens, women, children etc. As on 31.12.2022, 848 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,  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.  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  Rs.  186.93  crore  has  been  released  during  currant  FY  upto December,  2022.  768  FTSC  are  functional  including  418  exclusive  POCSO  Courts, which disposed more than 1,37,000 cases as on 31.12.2022.

(e) Pendency of court cases  is  a  multi-faceted  problem.  Due  to  the  increase  in  the population of the country and awareness of their rights amongst the public, filing of fresh cases is also increasing with leaps and bounds year after year. There are several reasons for large pendency of cases in the courts which, inter-alia, include paucity of judges and judicial officers, supporting court staff and physical infrastructure, frequent adjournments and  lack  of  adequate  arrangement  to  monitor,  track  and  bunch  cases  for  hearing, 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. In case of pendency of criminal cases, the Criminal Justice System functions on assistance by various agencies viz. Police, Prosecution, Forensic Labs, Handwriting Experts and Medico-Legal Experts. Delay in providing assistance by allied agencies also entails delay in disposal of cases.

*******

## Detailed  Statement  showing  year-wise  number  of  pending  cases  since  1970s  (19701979) in various High Courts

| S.No   | Name of the High Court   | 1970   | 1971   | 1972   | 1973   | 1974   | 1975   | 1976   | 1977   | 1978   | 1979   |   Total |
|--------|--------------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|---------|
| 1      | Allahabad                | 1      | 4      | 2      | 5      | 6      | 11     | 44     | 110    | 212    | 345    |     740 |
| 2      | Rajasthan                |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 3      | Bombay                   | 2      |        | 1      | 1      |        | 5      | 2      |        |        | 1      |      12 |
| 4      | Madras                   | 2      | 5      | 7      | 7      | 7      | 7      | 1      | 2      | 11     | 17     |      66 |
| 5      | Punjab and Haryana       |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 6      | Madhya Pradesh           |        |        | 2      |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       2 |
| 7      | Karnataka                |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 8      | Telangana                |        |        |        |        |        |        | 1      | 3      | 3      | 8      |      15 |
| 9      | Andhra Pradesh           |        |        |        |        |        |        | 1      |        | 2      | 7      |      10 |
| 10     | Patna                    | 1      | 3      | 3      | 9      | 13     | 37     | 57     | 30     | 149    | 92     |     394 |
| 11     | Calcutta                 | 108    | 151    | 124    | 249    | 220    | 222    | 288    | 343    | 313    | 382    |    2400 |
| 12     | Kerala                   |        |        |        | 1      |        |        |        |        |        | 1      |       2 |
| 13     | Gujarat                  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 14     | Orissa                   |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 15     | Delhi                    |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 16     | Chhattisgarh             |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 17     | Himachal Pradesh         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 18     | Jharkhand                |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 19     | Gauhati                  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 20     | Uttarakhand              |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 21     | Jammu and Kashmir        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        | 1      |       1 |
| 22     | Manipur                  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 23     | Tripura                  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 24     | Meghalaya                |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 25     | Sikkim                   |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
|        | Total                    | 114    | 163    | 139    | 272    | 246    | 282    | 394    | 488    | 690    | 854    |    3642 |

Source:-National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG).

ANNEXURE-II Detailed Statement showing year-wise number of pending cases since 1970s (1970-1979) in District and Subordinate Courts of various States/UTs

Source:- National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG).

| Sl.No   | States/Uts         | 1970   | 1971   | 1972   | 1973   | 1974   | 1975   | 1976   | 1977   | 1978   | 1979   |   Total |
|---------|--------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|---------|
| 1       | Andhra Pradesh     |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 2       | Andman&Nicobar     |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 3       | Assam              |        |        |        |        |        |        |        | 1      |        | 1      |       2 |
| 4       | Auranchal Pradesh  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 5       | Bihar              | 20     | 28     | 22     | 36     | 55     | 26     | 39     | 38     | 73     | 80     |     417 |
| 6       | Chandigarh         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 7       | Chattisgarh        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        | 1      | 2      |       3 |
| 8       | Delhi              |        |        | 1      | 1      | 2      |        | 1      |        |        |        |       5 |
| 9       | Diu and Daman      |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 10      | Goa 1              |        | 1      | 1      | 2      | 2      |        | 4      | 2      | 5      | 4      |      22 |
| 11      | Gujarat            |        |        | 1      |        |        | 1      | 1      |        |        |        |       3 |
| 12      | Haryana            |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        | 1      |       1 |
| 13      | Himachal pradesh   |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 14      | Jammu& Kashmir     |        |        |        | 1      | 1      |        |        |        |        |        |       2 |
| 15      | Jharkhand          | 1      | 2      | 5      | 1      | 2      | 1      | 1      | 1      | 6      | 3      |      23 |
| 16      | Karnataka          |        |        |        |        |        | 2      |        |        | 3      | 1      |       6 |
| 17      | Kerala             |        |        |        | 1      |        | 1      | 1      |        |        | 3      |       6 |
| 18      | Madhya Pradesh     | 5      | 1      |        |        |        |        |        |        | 1      | 2      |       9 |
| 19      | Maharshtra         |        | 11     | 10     | 18     | 13     | 15     | 16     | 17     | 27     | 28     |     155 |
| 20      | Manipur            |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 21      | Meghalya           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        | 1      | 1      | 1      |       3 |
| 22      | Mizoram            |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 23      | Nagaland           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 24      | Orissa             |        | 2      |        | 1      |        | 2      | 2      | 1      | 5      | 2      |      15 |
| 25      | Puducherry         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 26      | Punjab             |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 27      | Rajasthan          | 2      | 4      | 1      | 2      | 3      | 2      | 3      | 5      | 3      | 4      |      29 |
| 28      | Sikkim             |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 29      | Silvasa            |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 30      | Tamil Nadu         |        |        | 1      |        | 2      |        | 1      | 2      | 4      | 2      |      12 |
| 31      | Telangana          |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        | 1      | 1      |       2 |
| 32      | Tripura            |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 33      | U.T of lakshadweep |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 34      | Uttar Pradesh      | 80     | 98     | 131    | 134    | 147    | 171    | 205    | 267    | 340    | 390    |    1963 |
| 35      | Uttrakhand         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 36      | West Bengal        | 19     | 11     | 15     | 23     | 20     | 34     | 35     | 37     | 50     | 57     |     301 |
| Total   | Total              | 128    | 158    | 188    | 220    | 247    | 255    | 309    | 372    | 520    | 582    |    2979 |

## ANNEXURE-III

## Pendency of cases during the last three years in the Supreme Court

|   Year |   No. of Pending Cases in Supreme Court |
|--------|-----------------------------------------|
|   2020 |                                   65086 |
|   2021 |                                   70239 |
|   2022 |                                   69768 |

Source:- Supreme Court of India

ANNEXURE-IV Pendency of cases during the last three years in various High Courts

| S.No.   | Name of the High Court   |    2020 |    2021 |   2022 (till 30.09.2022) |
|---------|--------------------------|---------|---------|--------------------------|
| 1       | Allahabad                |  993031 | 1031587 |                  1030538 |
| 2       | Andhra Pradesh           |  205556 |  223783 |                   240569 |
| 3       | Telangana                |  223064 |  240029 |                   236549 |
| 4       | Bombay                   |  325332 |  353143 |                   371787 |
| 5       | Calcutta                 |  237363 |  234909 |                   223636 |
| 6       | Chhattisgarh             |   75836 |   81001 |                    88089 |
| 7       | Delhi                    |   91279 |  101685 |                   106110 |
| 8       | Gujarat                  |  143167 |  155006 |                   159711 |
| 9       | Gauhati                  |   40998 |   44356 |                    46624 |
| 10      | Meghalaya                |    1064 |    1201 |                    89689 |
| 11      | Manipur                  |    2849 |    3218 |                    47323 |
| 12      | Tripura                  |    2343 |    1736 |                    86291 |
| 13      | Himachal Pradesh         |   74158 |   82354 |                   258493 |
| 14      | Jammu &Kashmir           |   59162 |   48318 |                   237641 |
| 15      | Jharkhand                |   88435 |   88364 |                   420758 |
| 16      | Karnataka                |  249733 |  246413 |                   241448 |
| 17      | Kerala                   |  212515 |  226494 |                     3121 |
| 18      | Madhya Pradesh           |  383784 |  408527 |                      908 |
| 19      | Madras                   |  269417 |  259980 |                   170187 |
| 20      | Orissa                   |  172900 |  196483 |                   212203 |
| 21      | Patna                    |  179462 |  226071 |                   444370 |
| 22      | Punjab &Haryana          |  378856 |  451985 |                   590071 |
| 23      | Rajasthan                |  518499 |  560062 |                      164 |
| 24      | Sikkim                   |     239 |     179 |                     1695 |
| 25      | Uttarakhand              |   37923 |   40963 |                    43309 |
|         | Total                    | 4966965 | 5307847 |                  5351284 |

Source:- Supreme Court of India

ANNEXURE-V State-wise Pendency  of  cases  during  the  last  three  years  in  District  & Subordinate Courts

| S.No.   | Name of the State/UT    | 2019     | 2020     | 2021     |   2022 (till 30.09.2022) |
|---------|-------------------------|----------|----------|----------|--------------------------|
| 1       | Uttar Pradesh           | 7807863  | 8781104  | 9966606  |                 10641073 |
| 2       | Andhra Pradesh          | 567096   | 649157   | 785379   |                   827790 |
| 3       | Telangana               | 580193   | 691646   | 790360   |                   822658 |
| 4       | Maharashtra             | 3821487  | 4504573  | 4800895  |                  4919254 |
| 5       | Goa                     | 49049    | 58967    | 59414    |                    56082 |
| 6       | Diu and Daman &Silvassa | 5344     | 6281     | 6523     |                     2857 |
| 7       | Silvassa                |          |          |          |                     3784 |
| 8       | West Bengal             | 2048697  | 2170788  | 2384020  |                  2481419 |
| 9       | Andaman& Nicobar        | 9795     | 9839     | 9321     |                     9163 |
| 10      | Chhatisgarh             | 285025   | 331849   | 381984   |                   403266 |
| 11      | Delhi                   | 882366   | 1018642  | 1231373  |                  1440149 |
| 12      | Gujrat                  | 1595813  | 1917992  | 1952262  |                  1808627 |
| 13      | Assam                   | 301427   | 360753   | 415024   |                   478356 |
| 14      | Nagaland                | 3361     | 4206     | 4569     |                     4605 |
| 15      | Meghalaya               | 13673    | 15830    | 16010    |                     5843 |
| 16      | Manipur                 | 6516     | 6957     | 8183     |                    16029 |
| 17      | Tripura                 | 27491    | 44654    | 43096    |                   504912 |
| 18      | Mizoram                 | 6589     | 6338     | 6304     |                   258228 |
| 19      | Arunachal Pradesh       | 10658    | 12651    | 14318    |                   499687 |
| 20      | Himachal Pradesh        | 293706   | 420891   | 464892   |                  1878045 |
| 21      | Jammu &Kashmir          | 172769   | 198771   | 216245   |                  1992343 |
| 22      | Jharkhand               | 365642   | 427130   | 490905   |                      539 |
| 23      | Karnataka               | 1531008  | 1709220  | 1780802  |                  1957175 |
| 24      | Kerala                  | 1614277  | 2089289  | 2089147  |                     7654 |
| 25      | U.T. Of Lakshadweep     | 397      | 453      | 470      |                    15576 |
| 26      | Madhya Pradesh          | 1455435  | 1727293  | 1920613  |                  1383865 |
| 27      | Tamil Nadu              | 1137684  | 1263758  | 1331944  |                    32216 |
| 28      | Puducherry              | 30094    | 33470    | 32998    |                  1846520 |
| 29      | Orissa                  | 1433522  | 1592250  | 1789677  |                  3434130 |
| 30      | Bihar                   | 2714344  | 3016743  | 3276696  |                   952777 |
| 31      | Punjab                  | 642327   | 843791   | 945609   |                  1445775 |
| 32      | Haryana                 | 853375   | 1101330  | 1313881  |                    88805 |
| 33      | Chandigarh              | 62955    | 70633    | 72384    |                  2248201 |
| 34      | Rajasthan               | 1769823  | 1947688  | 2162774  |                     1645 |
| 35      | Sikkim                  | 1142     | 1455     | 1616     |                    38986 |
| 36      | Uttarkhand              | 195281   | 249350   | 287204   |                   318743 |
|         | Total                   | 32296224 | 37285742 | 41053498 |                 42826777 |

Source:- Supreme Court of India.