Lok Sabha Question No. 5644 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-04-04
Subject: Structural Issues in Judiciary
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Shri Aditya Yadav

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5644 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 04 TH  APRIL, 2025

## STRUCTURAL ISSUES IN JUDICIARY

## 5644.  SHRI ADITYA YADAV:

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

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  taken  necessary  steps  to  address  the structural  issues  affecting  the  judiciary  such  as  the  pendency  of  cases, archaic procedures and the culture of adjournments; and
- (b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

## (SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL)

- (a) & (b): The  structural  issues  such  as  the  pendency  of  cases,  archaic procedures  and  the  culture  of  adjournments  is  within  the  domain  of  the judiciary.  However,  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, as under:
- 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  changes  and  by  setting  performance  standards  and capacities.  The Mission has been pursuing a coordinated approach for phased  liquidation  of  arrears  and  pendency  in  judicial  administration, which,  inter-alia,  involves  better  infrastructure  for  courts  including computerization, increase in sanctioned strength of District and Subordinate Courts, policy and legislative measures in the areas prone to excessive  litigation  and  re-engineering  of  court  procedure  for  quick disposal of cases and emphasis on human resource development.

- ii. Under  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  for  development  of  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  ease  the  life  of  various stakeholders including the litigants, thereby aiding justice delivery. As on 28.02.2025, Rs.11886.29 crores 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 22,062 as on 28.02.2025  and  the  number  of  residential  units  has  increased  from 10,211 as on 30.06.2014 to 19,775 as on 28.02.2025, under this scheme.
- iii. Further,  under  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.  18,735  District and Subordinate Courts were computerized till 2023. WAN connectivity has  been  provided  to  99.5%  of  court  complexes.    Video  conferencing facility  has  been  enabled  between  3,240  court  complexes  and  1,272 corresponding jails. As on 28.02.2025, 1572 eSewa Kendras in District Courts and 39 eSewa Kendras in High Courts have been made functional to  bridge  the  digital  divide  by  providing  citizen  centric  services  to

lawyers and litigants. 28 virtual courts have  been set up in 21 States/UTs. As on 28.02.2025, these courts have handled more than 6.95 crore  cases  and  realized  more  than  Rs.736.11crores  in  fines.  The Cabinet, on 13.09.2023, has approved Phase-III of the eCourts Project at an 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 enhanced 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 progressively more robust, easy and accessible to all the stakeholders.

- iv. The Government has been regularly filling up vacancies of Judges in the Supreme  Court  of  India  and  the  High  Courts.  From  01.05.2014  to 31.03.2025, 67 Judges were appointed in the Supreme Court. 1034 new Judges were appointed and 794 Additional Judges were made permanent in the High Courts during the same period. The sanctioned strength of Judges of the High Courts has been increased from 906 in May, 2014 to 1122 till now. The sanctioned and working strength of judicial officers in District and Subordinate Courts has increased as under:

| As on      | Sanctioned Strength   | Working Strength   |
|------------|-----------------------|--------------------|
| 31.12.2013 | 19,518                | 15,115             |
| 31.03.2025 | 25,791                | 20,459             |

Source: MIS Portal of the Department of Justice

However,  filling  up  of  vacancies  in  District  and  Subordinate judiciary falls within the domain of the State/UT 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 Fast Track Courts have been established for dealing with cases of heinous crimes, cases involving senior citizens, women, children, etc. As on 28.02.2025, 857 Fast Track Courts are  functional across the  country. 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 and POCSO Act. As on 28.02.2025, 745 FTSCs including 404 exclusive  POCSO  (ePOCSO)  Courts  are  functional  in  30  States/UTs across the country which have disposed of more than 3,13,000 cases.
- vii. With  a  view  to  reduce  pendency  and  unclogging  of  the  courts,  the Government has amended various laws like The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment)  Act,  2018,  The  Commercial  Courts  (Amendment)  Act, 2018, The Specific Relief (Amendment) Act, 2018, and The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2019.
- 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. In order to further enhance  the  efficiency  of  the  PIMS  mechanism,  the  Government, through The Mediation Act, 2023, has further amended the Commercial Court Act, 2015. Amendments to The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 have been made in the years 2015, 2019 & 2021 for expediting the speedy resolution of disputes.

Under The Commercial Courts Act, 2015, there is a 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. Lok Adalat is an important 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.   Under  The  Legal  Services  Authorities  (LSA) Act, 1987, an award made by a Lok Adalat is deemed to be a decree of a civil  court  and  is  final  and  binding  on  all  parties  and  no  appeal  lies against  thereto  before  any  court.  Lok  Adalat  is  not  a  permanent establishment. National Lok Adalats are organized simultaneously in all Taluks, Districts and High Courts on a pre-fixed date.

The details of the cases disposed of in National Lok Adalats during the last four 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   |
| 2024    | 8,70,19,059            | 1,75,07,060     | 10,45,26,119  |
| Total   | 19,62,73,548           | 4,83,08,835     | 24,45,82,383  |

- x. 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 Panchayats and through Tele-Law mobile App.

*Percentage-wise break-up of Tele - Law Data

| Category            | Cases Registered    | % Wise Break Up     | Advice Enabled      | % Wise Break Up     |
|---------------------|---------------------|---------------------|---------------------|---------------------|
| Gender Wise         | Gender Wise         | Gender Wise         | Gender Wise         | Gender Wise         |
| Female              | 43,50,146           | 39.53%              | 42,92,045           | 39.49%              |
| Male                | 66,55,274           | 60.47%              | 65,77,616           | 60.51%              |
| Caste Category Wise | Caste Category Wise | Caste Category Wise | Caste Category Wise | Caste Category Wise |
| General             | 25,94,779           | 23.58%              | 25,54,696           | 23.50%              |
| OBC                 | 34,67,629           | 31.51%              | 34,21,343           | 31.48%              |
| SC                  | 34,55,009           | 31.39%              | 34,19,433           | 31.46%              |
| ST                  | 14,88,003           | 13.52%              | 14,74,189           | 13.56%              |
| Total               | 1,10,05,420         |                     | 1,08,69,661         |                     |

*Data as on 28.02.2025.

- xi. Efforts have been made to institutionalize pro bono culture and pro bono lawyering  in  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). Nyaya Bandhu Services are also available on UMANG Platform. Pro Bono Panel of advocates has been initiated in 23 High Courts at the State/UT level. Pro Bono Clubs have been started in 109 Law Schools to instill Pro Bono culture in budding lawyers.

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