Lok Sabha Question No. 6 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-02
Subject: Pending Cases in Courts
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: L.S. Tejasvi Surya, Francisco Cosme Sardinha, Ashok Kumar Rawat, Badruddin Ajmal

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 6

## TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 2 ND  FEBRUARY, 2024

## PENDING CASES IN COURTS

6. SHRI L.S. TEJASVI SURYA:

SHRI COSME FRANCISCO CAITANO SARDINHA:

SHRI ASHOK KUMAR RAWAT:

SHRI M. BADRUDDIN AJMAL:

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

- (a)  whether any steps and mechanism have been taken/being taken to accelerate the disposal of casespending in the courts of the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and if not, thereasons therefor;
- (c)  whether there is any proposal to increase thenumber of courts and judges in the country to ensurethe justice within time-bond period; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE; MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS; AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE

## (SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL)

- (a) & (b): Disposal of cases in courts is within the exclusive domain of the judiciary and the Government has no direct role in disposal of cases.

The  Central  Government  has  unwavering  commitment  towards  speedy disposal  of  cases  and  reducing  pendency  as  mandated  under  Article  21  of  the Constitution. To this end the Government has taken several initiatives to provide an ecosystem for faster disposal of cases by the judiciary:

- i. The 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
2. 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.
- ii. 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.  10567.00crores  have  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 21,524 as on 31.12.2023, and number of residential units has increased from 10,211 as on 30.06.2014 to 18,951 as on 31.12.2023, under this scheme.
- iii. Further  under  the  Phase  I  &  II  of  the  e-Courts  Mission  Mode  Project, information and communication technology (ICT) had been leveraged for IT enablement  of  district  and  subordinate  courts.    As  a  result,  the  number  of computerised district & subordinate courts have 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.  875  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. 25 virtual courts have been set up in 20 States/UTs. As on 31.12.2023,  these  courts  have  handled  more  than  4.24  crore  cases  and realized more than Rs. 492.79 crores in fines.

The  Cabinet  on  13.09.2023  has  approved  eCourts  Phase-III  with  a budgetary outlay of Rs.7,210 crore. Taking the gains of Phase-I and Phase-II to  the  next  level,  the  e-Courts  Phase-III  aims  to  usher  in  a  regime  of maximum  ease  of  justice  by  moving  towards  digital,  online  and  paperless courts. It intends to incorporate latest technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Block chain etc to make justice delivery more robust, easy and accessible to all the stakeholders.

- iv. Government has been regularly filling up the vacancies in higher judiciary. From 01.05.2014 to 11.01.2024, 61 Judges were appointed in Supreme Court. 965  new  Judges  were  appointed  and  695  Additional  Judges  were  made permanent  in  the  High  Courts.  The  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             |
| 31.12.2023 | 25,348                | 20,018             |

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

- v. 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.
- vi. 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  of  30.11.2023,  847  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  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 of 30.11.2023, a total of 758 FTSCs including 411 exclusive POCSO (ePOCSO) Courts are functional in  30  States/UTs  across  the  country  which  have  disposed  of  more  than 2,08,000 cases. FTSCs Scheme has been further extended for 3 more years i.e. from FY 2023-24 to FY 2025-26.

- vii. 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.
- viii. Alternate Dispute Resolution methods have been promoted whole heartedly. Accordingly,  the  Commercial  Courts  Act,  2015  was  amended  in  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.

Under  the  Commercial  Courts  Act,  2015,  there  is  provision  for  case management hearing which provides for an efficient, effective and purposeful judicial  management  of  a  case  so  as  to  achieve  a  timely  and  qualitative resolution of a dispute. It assists in early identification of disputed issues of fact and law, establishment of procedural calendar for the life of the case and the exploration of possibilities of the resolution of the dispute.

Another novel feature introduced for the commercial courts is the system of color banding which limits the number of adjournments that can be granted in  any  commercial matter to three and alerts the judges about listing of the cases in accordance with their stage of pendency.

- ix. The recently enacted Mediation Act, 2023 lays down that mediation can be conducted in civil and commercial matters in terms of the provisions of the Mediation  Act,  2023  barring  such  matters  explicitly  listed  in  the  First Schedule of the Act which are not fit for mediation and in which mediation cannot  be  conducted.  It  can  be  seen  from  the  exempted  list  in  the  first schedule that only major offences have been excluded, thus leaving majority of the petty offences under the ambit of Mediation Act, 2023.
- x. Lok Adalats are being given impetus as an 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. There are three types of Lok Adalats: National Lok Adalats, State Lok Adalats and Permanent Lok Adalats. Mobile Lok Adalats are  also  organized  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  which  travel  from  one location to another to resolve disputes in order to facilitate the resolution of disputes  through  a  mediated  mechanism.  Since  June,  2020,  online  Lok Adalat/e-Lok  Adalats  have  been  organised  virtually  that  facilitates  party interaction  and  exchange  of  information,  allowing  people  to  effectively participate from their homes with the help of internet technology.

The details of the case disposed of in National Lok Adalats during the last three years are as under:-

| 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    | 7,10,32,980            | 1,43,09,237     | 8,53,42,217   |
| Total   | 10,92,54,489           | 3,08,01,775     | 14,00,56,264  |

- xi. The Government launched the Tele-Law programme in 2017, which provides an  effective  and  reliable  e-interface  platform  connecting  the  needy  and

disadvantaged  sections  seeking  legal  advice  and  consultation  with  panel lawyers via video conferencing, telephone and chat facilities available at the Common Service Centres  (CSCs)  situated  in  Gram  Panchayat  and  through Tele-Law mobile App. As against 65,74,265 cases registered till 31.12.2023, there were 64,80,269 advices enabled through Tele-Law.

- xii. 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).Pro Bono Panel of advocates have been initiated in 22 High Courts at the State level. Pro Bono Clubs have been started in 89 select Laws Schools to instil Pro Bono culture in budding lawyers.

(c) & (d): Appointment  of  the  Judges  to  the  Constitutional  Courts  such  as High  Courts  is  a  continuous,  integrated  and  collaborative  process  between  the Executive  and  the  Judiciary.The  appointment  of  Judges  of  the  High  Courts  is made  under  Articles  217  and  224  of  the  Constitution  of  India.  It  requires consultation  and  approval  from  various  constitutional  authorities  both  at  State and Central level. The Government on its part, undertakes every effort to fill up the  existing  vacancies  expeditiously  in  the  High  Courts  but  the  vacancies  of Judges do keep on arising on account of retirement, resignation or elevation of Judges and also due to increase in the strength of Judges.

During the Joint Conference of Chief Justices and Chief Ministers held on 07.04.2013, a decision was taken to increase the number of Judges of the High Courts by 25%. Accordingly, during the period from 01.07.2014 to 29.01.2024 with the approval of the respective State Governments, concerned High Courts and the Chief Justice of India, Government has increased the Judge strength of the High Courts from 906 to 1114 i.e. by 208 posts.

At present there is no complete proposal pending with the Government to increase  the  strength  of  Judges  in  High  Court(s).  No  proposal  for  increase  in strength of Judges of the Supreme Court is pending with the Government.

High Court Benches are established in accordance with the recommendations  made  by  the  Jaswant  Singh  Commission  and  judgment pronounced  by  the  Apex  Court  in  W.P.(C)  No.379  of  2000  and  after  due consideration  of  a  complete  proposal  from  the  State  Government  which  has  to provide necessary expenditure and infrastructural facilities and the Chief Justice of  the  concerned  High  Court  who  is  required  to  look  after  the  day  today administration of the High Court. The proposal to be complete should also have the consent of the Governor of the concerned State.

At present there is no  complete proposal pending with the Government for setting up of Bench(es) in any High Court.

The  establishment  of  new  courts  in  the  districts  and  the  filling  up  of vacant  posts  of  judicial  officers  in  the  District  and  Subordinate  Courts  is  the responsibility  of  the  High  Courts  and  State  Governments  concerned.  The constitutional  provisions  for  selection  and  appointment  of  judicial  officers  in district and subordinate judiciary as provided under Article 309 read with Articles 233 and 234 of the Constitution, entrusts the responsibility to the respective state governments  in  consultation  with  their  High  Courts  to  frame  the  rules  and regulations regarding the issues of recruitment of judicial officers in the respective  state  judicial  service.  In  some  States,  the  respective  High  Courts undertake the recruitment process, whereas in other States, the High Courts do it in consultation with the State Public Service Commissions.The Hon'ble Supreme Court  vide  judicial  order  passed  in  January  2007  in  the  Malik  Mazhar  Sultan case, has stipulated certain timelines which are to be followed by the states and the  respective  High  Courts  for  initiating  the  recruitment  process  of  judges  in subordinate courts. As such the Central Government does not have any role in the matter.

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