Lok Sabha Question No. 3348 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-17
Subject: Pending Cases in High Courts and Subordinate Courts
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: K. Muraleedharan

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3348 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 17 TH  DECEMBER, 2021

## PENDING CASES IN HIGH COURTS AND SUBORDINATE COURTS

## 3348. SHRI K. MURALEEDHARAN:

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

(a)  the  number  of  cases  pending  in  various  High  Court  and  subordinate  courts across the country, State/UT-wise;

- (b) whether the Government has taken note of the fact that the High Courts are functioning at half of sanctioned strength, if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the manner in which the Government proposes to ensure that recruitment for vacant posts of judges of High Court as well as in all subordinate courts of Kerala is completed as per the requirement?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE

## (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

(a): The number of cases pending in various High Court and subordinate courts across the country, State/UT-wise is at Annexure -I and Annexure - II respectively.

(b): Against the sanctioned strength of 1098 Judges in High Courts, 694 Judges are working leaving 404 vacancies.  The sanctioned strength, working strength and vacancy position in respect of High Courts is at Annexure-III .

(c): As  per  procedure  prescribed  in  the  Memorandum  of  Procedure  (MoP),  for appointment  of  Judges  in  the  Higher  Judiciary,  prepared  in  pursuant  to  the  Supreme Court  Judgement  of October  6,  1993  (Second  Judges  Case)  read  with  their  Advisory Opinion  of October  28,  1998(Third  Judges  Case),  the  initiation  of  appointments  of Judges  of  the  High  Court  vests  with  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  High  Court.  The

Government considers  only  those  names  which  are  recommended  by  the  High  Court Collegium and the Supreme Court Collegium.

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  state  and  central  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.

From 01.05.2014 to 14.12.2021, 44 Judges were appointed in Supreme Court. 690 new  Judges  were  appointed  and  583  Additional  Judges  were  made  permanent  in  the High  Courts.  120  Judges  have  been  appointed  in  High  Courts  during  the  period 01.01.2021 till date. 167 proposals are pending/under process with the Supreme Court Collegium and Government. There are 237 vacancies for which recommendations have not been received from High Courts.

During  the  period  01.01.2021  till  date,  12  Judges  have  been  appointed  in  the Kerala High Court and 03 proposals are at different stages of consideration.

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  Governments,  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 04th 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.

In  September,  2016,  Union  Minister  of  Law  &  Justice  wrote  to  the  Chief Ministers of States and the Chief Justices of High Courts to enhance the cadre strength of the  District  and  Subordinate  Courts  and  provide  physical  infrastructure  to  the  State judiciary. The same was reiterated in May, 2017.  The sanctioned strength of judges in District and Subordinate Courts increased from 19,518 in the year 2014 to 24,485 as on 30.11.2021.  In August, 2018, in the context of increasing pendency of cases, the Union Minister of Law & Justice has written to all Chief Justices of High Courts to monitor the status of the vacancies regularly and to ensure proper coordination with the State Public Service  Commission  to  fill  up  vacant  posts  as  per  time  schedule  prescribed  by  the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the Malik Mazhar Sultan case. The filling up of vacancies is also being monitored by the Supreme Court in a suo-motu Writ Petition (Civil) No. 2 of 2018.

********

## Annexure - I

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (A)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3348 FOR ANSWER ON 17.12.2021 REGARDING PENDING CASES IN HIGH COURTS AND SUBORDINATE COURTS.

| Sl. No   | Name of High Courts                   |   Pending Cases (Civil ) |   Pending Cases (Criminal) |   Number of Cases pending in High Courts as on 13.12.2021 |
|----------|---------------------------------------|--------------------------|----------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|
| 1.       | Allahabad High Court                  |                   417768 |                     383245 |                                                    801013 |
| 2.       | Calcutta High Court                   |                   190162 |                      35447 |                                                    225609 |
| 3.       | Gauhati High Court                    |                    44445 |                      10761 |                                                     55206 |
| 4.       | High Court for the State of Telangana |                   218659 |                      35464 |                                                    254123 |
| 5.       | High Court of Andhra Pradesh          |                   188963 |                      32825 |                                                    221788 |
| 6.       | High Court of Bombay                  |                   470084 |                      93726 |                                                    563810 |
| 7.       | High Court of Chhattisgarh            |                    51000 |                      29474 |                                                     80474 |
| 8.       | High Court of Delhi                   |                    74213 |                      26880 |                                                    101093 |
| 9.       | High Court of Gujarat                 |                   101465 |                      50665 |                                                    152130 |
| 10.      | High Court of Himachal Pradesh        |                    71342 |                       9992 |                                                     81334 |
| 11.      | High Court of Jammu & Kashmir         |                    41457 |                       6670 |                                                     48127 |
| 12.      | High Court of Jharkhand               |                    41942 |                      45198 |                                                     87140 |
| 13.      | High Court of Karnataka               |                   232110 |                      40858 |                                                    272968 |
| 14.      | High Court of Kerala                  |                   170016 |                      43160 |                                                    213176 |
| 15.      | High Court of Madhya Pradesh          |                   256719 |                     156748 |                                                    413467 |
| 16.      | High Court of Manipur                 |                     4303 |                        474 |                                                      4777 |
| 17.      | High Court of Meghalaya               |                     1408 |                        204 |                                                      1612 |
| 18.      | High Court of Punjab & Haryana        |                   283253 |                     164658 |                                                    447911 |
| 19.      | High Court of Rajasthan               |                   422805 |                     151647 |                                                    574452 |
| 20.      | High Court of Sikkim                  |                      155 |                         33 |                                                       188 |
| 21.      | High Court of Tripura                 |                     1517 |                        204 |                                                      1721 |
| 22.      | High Court of Uttarakhand             |                    24185 |                      17406 |                                                     41591 |
| 23.      | Madras High Court                     |                   520418 |                      58153 |                                                    578571 |
| 24.      | Orissa High Court                     |                   139829 |                      51752 |                                                    191581 |
| 25.      | Patna High Court                      |                   112806 |                     113973 |                                                    226779 |
| Total    | Total                                 |                  4081024 |                    1559617 |                                                   5640641 |

Source:- National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG).

## Annexure- II

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (A)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3348 FOR ANSWER ON 17.12.2021 REGARDING

## PENDING CASES IN HIGH COURTS AND SUBORDINATE COURTS.

| Sl. No   | Name of States/UTs   |   Pending Cases (Civil) |   Pending Cases (Criminal) |   Total Number of Cases pending in District and Subordinate Courts as on 13.12.2021 |
|----------|----------------------|-------------------------|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1.       | Andhra Pradesh       |                  413386 |                     358955 |                                                                              772341 |
| 2.       | Telangana            |                  328829 |                     475421 |                                                                              804250 |
| 3.       | Assam                |                   86566 |                     327950 |                                                                              414516 |
| 4.       | Bihar                |                  473790 |                    2897386 |                                                                             3371176 |
| 5.       | Chandigarh           |                   22723 |                      45341 |                                                                               68064 |
| 6.       | Chhattisgarh         |                   68945 |                     301892 |                                                                              370837 |
| 7.       | D & N Haveli         |                    1740 |                       1920 |                                                                                3660 |
| 8.       | Daman & Diu          |                    1389 |                       1466 |                                                                                2855 |
| 9.       | Delhi                |                  241300 |                     850632 |                                                                             1091932 |
| 10.      | Goa                  |                   25750 |                      35535 |                                                                               61285 |
| 11.      | Gujarat              |                  459288 |                    1499829 |                                                                             1959117 |
| 12.      | Haryana              |                  429063 |                     839183 |                                                                             1268246 |
| 13.      | Himachal Pradesh     |                  153640 |                     294670 |                                                                              448310 |
| 14.      | Jammu & Kashmir      |                   95828 |                     147198 |                                                                              243026 |
| 15.      | Jharkhand            |                   89167 |                     405426 |                                                                              494593 |
| 16.      | Karnataka            |                  876561 |                    1119919 |                                                                             1996480 |
| 17.      | Kerala               |                  517243 |                    1436017 |                                                                             1953260 |
| 18.      | Ladakh               |                     398 |                        426 |                                                                                 824 |
| 19.      | Madhya Pradesh       |                  377780 |                    1463105 |                                                                             1840885 |
| 20.      | Maharashtra          |                 1477536 |                    3366054 |                                                                             4843590 |
| 21.      | Manipur              |                    8430 |                       4430 |                                                                               12860 |
| 22.      | Meghalaya            |                    4210 |                       9881 |                                                                               14091 |
| 23.      | Mizoram              |                    2202 |                       3742 |                                                                                5944 |
| 24.      | Nagaland             |                     489 |                       2109 |                                                                                2598 |
| 25.      | Odisha               |                  303368 |                    1212366 |                                                                             1515734 |
| 26.      | Punjab               |                  391687 |                     525185 |                                                                              916872 |
| 27.      | Rajasthan            |                  515566 |                    1496159 |                                                                             2011725 |
| 28.      | Sikkim               |                     674 |                       1193 |                                                                                1867 |
| 29.      | Tamil Nadu           |                  759650 |                     606749 |                                                                             1366399 |
| 30.      | Puducherry           |                   15381 |                      19720 |                                                                               35101 |
| 31.      | Tripura              |                    9151 |                      30134 |                                                                               39285 |
| 32.      | Uttar Pradesh        |                 1908209 |                    7951414 |                                                                             9859623 |
| 33.      | Uttarakhand          |                   44417 |                     256002 |                                                                              300419 |
| 34.      | West Bengal          |                  604073 |                    1976528 |                                                                             2580601 |
|          | Total                |                10708429 |                   29963937 |                                                                            40672366 |

*Note: Data on District and Subordinate Courts  in  the States  of Arunachal Pradesh, and Union Territories of Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar Islands are not available on the web-portal of NJDG

Annexure- III STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (B)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3348 FOR ANSWER ON 17.12.2021 REGARDING PENDING CASES IN HIGH COURTS AND SUBORDINATE COURTS.

| S. No.   | Name of High Court     | Total Sanctioned Strength   | Total Working Strength   | Total Vacancy   |
|----------|------------------------|-----------------------------|--------------------------|-----------------|
| A.       | Supreme Court of India | 34                          | 33                       | 01              |
| B.       | High Court             |                             |                          |                 |
| 1.       | Allahabad              | 160                         | 94                       | 66              |
| 2.       | Andhra Pradesh         | 37                          | 20                       | 17              |
| 3.       | Bombay                 | 94                          | 60                       | 34              |
| 4.       | Calcutta               | 72                          | 39                       | 33              |
| 5.       | Chhattisgarh           | 22                          | 13                       | 9               |
| 6.       | Delhi                  | 60                          | 30                       | 30              |
| 7.       | Gauhati                | 24                          | 24                       | 0               |
| 8.       | Gujarat                | 52                          | 32                       | 20              |
| 9.       | Himachal Pradesh       | 13                          | 9                        | 4               |
| 10.      | J &Kand Ladakh         | 17                          | 13                       | 4               |
| 11.      | Jharkhand              | 25                          | 20                       | 5               |
| 12.      | Karnataka              | 62                          | 45                       | 17              |
| 13.      | Kerala                 | 47                          | 40                       | 7               |
| 14.      | Madhya Pradesh         | 53                          | 30                       | 23              |
| 15.      | Madras                 | 75                          | 60                       | 15              |
| 16.      | Manipur                | 05                          | 5                        | 0               |
| 17.      | Meghalaya              | 04                          | 3                        | 1               |
| 18.      | Orissa                 | 27                          | 18                       | 9               |
| 19.      | Patna                  | 53                          | 26                       | 27              |
| 20.      | Punjab& Haryana        | 85                          | 50                       | 35              |
| 21.      | Rajasthan              | 50                          | 28                       | 22              |
| 22.      | Sikkim                 | 03                          | 3                        | 0               |
| 23.      | Telangana              | 42                          | 19                       | 23              |
| 24.      | Tripura                | 05                          | 5                        | 0               |
| 25.      | Uttarakhand            | 11                          | 8                        | 3               |
| Total    | Total                  | 1098                        | 694                      | 404             |