Lok Sabha Question No. 3249 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-05
Subject: Pendency of Legal Cases in Courts
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Jaisiddeshwar Shivacharya Mahaswamiji, Sanganna Amarappa Karadi, B. Y. Raghavendra, S. Muniswamy, Prathap Simha, Umesh G. Jadhav

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3249 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 05 TH  AUGUST, 2022

## PENDENCY OF LEGAL CASES IN COURTS

## 3249. SHRI SHA.BRA.DR.JAI SIDDESHWAR SHIVACHARYA MAHASWAMIJI: SHRI SANGANNA AMARAPPA:

SHRI B.Y. RAGHAVENDRA:

SHRI S. MUNISWAMY:

SHRI PRATHAP SIMHA:

DR. UMESH G. JADHAV:

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

- (a)  the  number  of  cases  which  are  pending  in  Karnataka  and  Maharashtra  High Courts for the last 15 years;
- (b) whether the pendency of legal cases has deprived the people of Maharashtra and
- Karnataka of getting justice;
- (c) if so, the reaction of the Government thereto;
- (d) the number of serving judges in Karnataka and Maharashtra during each of the last three years;
- (e) whether a need has been felt to increase the number of courts; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof along with the steps taken in this regard so far?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE

## (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

- (a): As  per  the  information  provided  by  respective  High  Courts,  the  number  of  cases pending for the last 15 years  in the High Court of Karnataka and Bombay High Court is 2,56,906 and 2,81,986 respectively.

(b) & (c): Disposal of pending cases in all courts including in Karnataka and Maharashtra 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, 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  besides  availability  of  adequate  number  of  judges  and  judicial officers, supporting court staff and physical infrastructure. There are several factors which may lead to delay in disposal of cases. These, inter-alia, include frequent adjournments, lack of adequate arrangement to monitor, track and bunch cases for hearing and also vacancies of judges.  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.  9013.21  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, 2,677 court halls and 1,659 residential units are under construction as per data available on Nyaya Vikas  Portal.  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,  three  new  components,  i.e.  construction  of  Lawyer's  Halls,  Toilet Complexes and Digital Computer Rooms have now been included.

Till  date,  the  Central  Government  has  sanctioned  Rs.  9150.71  crore  under  the Scheme to States/UTs, out of which Rs. 5706.41 crore has been released since 2014-15 which is around 62.36% of the total release under the scheme. This includes release of Rs. 811.94 crore to the State Government of Maharashtra and Rs. 727.49 crore to the State Government of Karnataka.

As per information made available  by  the  High  Courts  as  on  30.06.2022,  against sanctioned  strength  of  24,623  and  working  strength  of  19,313  Judicial  Officers,  20,993 Court  Halls  and  18,502  Residential  Units  are  available  in  the  District  and  Subordinate Courts. Moreover, 2,677 Court Halls and 1,659 Residential Units are under construction as per the data available on Nyaya Vikas portal. In the State of Karnataka, as on 30.06.2022 there  are  1165  court  halls  and  1120  residential  units  are  available  against  the  working strength of 1071 Judges/Judicial Officers of District and Subordinate Courts. As far as the State of Maharashtra is concerned there are 2350 court halls and 2055 residential units are available  against  the  working  strength  of  1940  Judges/Judicial  Officer  of  District  and Subordinate Courts.

## (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-SewaKendras  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 upto13.06.2022.

The details  of  Leveraging  Information  and  Communication  Technology (ICT) for improved justice delivery in respect of States of Karnataka and Maharashtra is as under:-

|                     | Karnataka                                                                                 | Maharashtra                                                                               |
|---------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Courts Computerized | 1031                                                                                      | 2157                                                                                      |
| WAN                 | 195                                                                                       | 464                                                                                       |
| NJDG                | Pending & Disposed Cases more than 1.73 crore Total orders/Judgement more than 2.09 crore | Pending & Disposed Cases more than 2.36 crore Total orders/Judgement more than 1.19 crore |
| eSewa Kendra        | 10                                                                                        | 40                                                                                        |
| VC Court            | 297                                                                                       | 466                                                                                       |
| VC Jail             | 97                                                                                        | 138                                                                                       |
| VC hearing no.      | 9,64,593                                                                                  | 78,247                                                                                    |

## (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             |
| 29.07.2022 | 24,631                | 19,288             |

However, filling up of vacancies in Subordinate judiciary falls within the domain of the State Governments and High Courts concerned.

The Sanctioned Strength, Working Strength and Vacancy position of Judges in High Courts of Karnataka and Bombay is as under:-

(As on 29.07.2022.)

| Name of High Court   |   Sanctioned Strength |   Working Strength |   Vacancy |
|----------------------|-----------------------|--------------------|-----------|
| Karnataka            |                    62 |                 44 |        18 |
| Bombay               |                    94 |                 62 |        32 |

The  Sanctioned  Strength,  Working  Strength  and  Vacancy  position  of  Judicial Officers in the States of Karnataka and Maharashtra is as under:-

(As on 29.07.2022)

| Name of State   |   Sanctioned Strength |   Working Strength |   Vacancy |
|-----------------|-----------------------|--------------------|-----------|
| Karnataka       |                  1364 |               1065 |       299 |
| Maharashtra     |                  2190 |               1940 |       250 |

(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. 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 including 408 exclusive POCSO Courts, which disposed 1,02,344 cases as on 30.6.2022.

The  details  of  earmarked  and  functional  FTSC  in  the  States  of  Karnataka  and Maharashtra is as under:-

| Name of High Court   |   Earmarked FTSC |   Functional FTSC |   Earmarked ePocso Court |   Functional ePocso Court |
|----------------------|------------------|-------------------|--------------------------|---------------------------|
| Karnataka            |               31 |                25 |                       17 |                        17 |
| Maharashtra          |              138 |                39 |                       20 |                        21 |

The details of grants released to States of Karnataka and Maharashtra is as under:-

| Name of High Court   | Central share released   | Due State share   | Utilization Certificate obtained   |
|----------------------|--------------------------|-------------------|------------------------------------|
| Karnataka            | 13.61 crore              | 9.07 crore        | 12.97 crore                        |
| Maharashtra          | 31.05 crore              | 20.7 crore        | 7.01 crore                         |

- (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.
- (d): The number of serving judges in Karnataka and Maharashtra during each of the last three years is at Annexure .
- (e) & (f) The new courts at District and below District / Subordinate (Tehsil / Taluka) level  are  established  by  the  respective  State  Governments  in  consultation  with  the concerned High Courts.

In the case of Imtiyaz Ahmed versus State of Uttar Pradesh and others, the Supreme Court  had  asked  the  Law  Commission  of  India  to  evolve  a  method  for  scientific assessment of the number of additional courts required to clear the backlog of cases.  In 245th  report  (2014),  the  Law  Commission  has  observed  that  filing  of  cases  per  capita varies  substantially  across  geographic  units  as  filings  are  associated  with  economic  and social  conditions of  the  population.    As such  the  Law  Commission did not consider the judge population ratio to be a scientific criterion for determining the adequacy of the judge strength in the country.  The Law Commission found that in the absence of complete and scientific approach to data collection across various High Courts in the country, the 'Rate of  Disposal'  method,  to  calculate  the  number  of  additional  judges  required  to  clear  the backlog of cases as well as to ensure that new backlog is not created, is more pragmatic and useful.  In May, 2014, the Supreme Court asked the State Governments and the High Courts to file their response to the recommendations made by the Law Commission.  In August  2014, the  Supreme  Court  asked  the  National  Court  Management  System Committee  (NCMS  Committee)  to  examine  the  recommendations  made  by  the  Law Commission  and  to  furnish  its  recommendations  in  this  regard.    NCMS  Committee submitted its report to the Supreme Court in March, 2016.  The report, inter-alia, observes that in the long term, the judge strength of the subordinate courts will have to be assessed by  a  scientific  method  to  determine  the  total  number  of  'Judicial  Hours'  required  for disposing of the case load of each court.  In the interim, the Committee has proposed a 'weighted' disposal approach i.e. disposal weighted by the nature and complexity of cases in local conditions.  As per the direction of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in its Order dated 02.01.2017,  the  Department  of  Justice  has  forwarded  a  copy  of  interim  report  of  the NCMS Committee to all the State Governments and High Courts to enable them to take follow up action to determine the required Strength of district and subordinate judiciary.

*******

Annexure STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (D)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3249 FOR ANSWER ON 05.08.2022 REGARDING 'PENDENCY OF LEGAL CASES IN COURTS'. The  Sanctioned  Strength  and  the  Working  strength  of  Judges  in  the  Bombay  and Karnataka High Courts during the last three years, is given as below: (As on 29.07.2022)

| Year (As on)   | High Courts   |   Sanctioned Strength |   Working Strength |   Vacancies |
|----------------|---------------|-----------------------|--------------------|-------------|
| 01.01.2019     | Bombay        |                    94 |                 71 |          23 |
| 01.01.2019     | Karnataka     |                    62 |                 33 |          29 |
| 01.01.2020     | Bombay        |                    94 |                 70 |          24 |
| 01.01.2020     | Karnataka     |                    62 |                 40 |          22 |
| 01.01.2021     | Bombay        |                    94 |                 64 |          30 |
| 01.01.2021     | Karnataka     |                    62 |                 46 |          16 |
| 29.07.2022     | Bombay        |                    94 |                 62 |          32 |
| 29.07.2022     | Karnataka     |                    62 |                 44 |          18 |