Lok Sabha Question No. 1342 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-03-03
Subject: Pending Court Cases
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: HARI NARAYAN RAJBHAR, SURESH KODIKUNNIL, SHARAD TRIPATHI, RAVINDRA VISHWANATH GAIKWAD, RATTAN LAL KATARIA, RAYAPATI SAMBASIVA RAO, KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR, RAJAN BABURAO  VICHARE, RAJESHBHAI NARANBHAI CHUDASAMA, KALIKESH NARAYAN SINGH DEO, DILIP PATEL, RABINDRA KUMAR JENA, NANDI YELLAIAH

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †1342

## TO BE ANSWERED ON THURSDAY, THE 03 RD MARCH, 2016

## Pending Court Cases

## †1342. SHRI HARINARAYAN RAJBHAR:

SHRI KODIKUNNIL SURESH:

SHRI SHARAD TRIPATHI:

PROF. RAVINDRA VISHWANATH GAIKWAD:

SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA:

SHRI RAYAPATI SAMBASIVA RAO:

SHRI KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR:

SHRI RAJAN VICHARE:

SHRI RAJESHBHAI CHUDASAMA:

SHRI KALIKESH N. SINGH DEO:

SHRI DILIP PATEL:

SHRI RABINDRA KUMAR JENA:

SHRI NANDI YELLAIAH:

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

- (a) the number of criminal and civil cases pending in the Supreme Court, High Courts and Subordinate Courts indicating separately  the number  of  cases which are pending for more than ten years;
- (b)  the  number  of  cases  disposed  of  by these  Courts  during  each  of  the  last three years and the current year, Court / State / UT-wise;
- (c) whether the Government has assessed the reasons for delay in disposing of cases which are pending for more than ten years;
- (d) if  so,  the  outcome  thereof  along with the remedial measures  taken / being taken as a result thereof; and
- (e)  the  other  measures  taken / being taken by the Government to address the issue for expeditious disposal of pending cases?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE (SHRI D. V. SADANANDA GOWDA)

(a) to (e): Data on pendency of cases is maintained by the Supreme Court and High Courts.  As per the information made available by the Supreme Court of India, details of civil and criminal cases pending in the Supreme Court of India; and civil and criminal cases pending for more than 10 years in the Supreme Court of India; and number of cases disposed of by the Supreme Court of India during the last three years and the current year are as under:-

| Number of Cases 19.02.2016   | Pending as on   | Number of more than 19.02.2016.   | Cases pending 10 years up   | Number of Cases three years and 19.02.2016   | disposed current   | during last year upto   |
|------------------------------|-----------------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------|----------------------------------------------|--------------------|-------------------------|
| Civil                        | Criminal        | Civil                             | Criminal                    | 2013 2014                                    | 2015               | 2016                    |
| 48,418                       | 11,050          | 1,132                             | 84                          | 40,189 45,042                                | 47,424             | 6,054                   |

As per information made available by High Courts, details of pending cases in High Courts and District and Subordinate Courts are as under:-

| Number of Pending Cases in High Courts as on 31.12.2014   | Number of Pending Cases in High Courts as on 31.12.2014   | Number of Cases pending for more than 10 years in High Courts as on 31.12.2014   | Number of Cases pending for more than 10 years in High Courts as on 31.12.2014   | Number of Pending Cases in District and Subordinate Courts as on 31.12.2014   | Number of Pending Cases in District and Subordinate Courts as on 31.12.2014   | Number of Cases pending for more than 10 years in District and Subordinate Courts as on 31.12.2014   | Number of Cases pending for more than 10 years in District and Subordinate Courts as on 31.12.2014   |
|-----------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Civil                                                     | Criminal                                                  | Civil                                                                            | Criminal                                                                         | Civil                                                                         | Criminal                                                                      | Civil                                                                                                | Criminal                                                                                             |
| 3116492                                                   | 1037465                                                   | 589631                                                                           | 187999                                                                           | 8234281                                                                       | 18254124                                                                      | 611658                                                                                               | 1432079                                                                                              |

The  details  of  cases  disposed  of  during  2012,  2013  and  2014  by the  High Courts and District / Subordinate Courts are given in the Statements at Annexure - I and Annexure - II respectively.

Some  of  the  main  factors  responsible  for  pendency  of  cases  in  courts  are increasing  number  of  state  and  central  legislations,  accumulation  of  first  appeals, continuation  of  ordinary  civil  jurisdiction  in  some  of  the  High  Courts,  vacancies  of Judges, appeals against orders of quasi-judicial forums going to High Courts, number of  revisions  /  appeals,  frequent  adjournments,  indiscriminate  use  of  writ  jurisdiction, lack of adequate arrangement to monitor, track and bunch cases for hearing.

The Chief Justices' Conference held on 03 rd and 04 th April 2015 has resolved that  each  High  Court  shall  establish  an  Arrears  Committee  to  clear  the  backlog  of cases  pending  for  more  than  five  years.    As  per  information  available,  Arrears Committees have  been set  up  in  the  High  Courts  of  (i)  Allahabad,  (ii)  Bombay,  (iii) Calcutta, (iv) Chhattisgarh, (v) Delhi, (vi) Himachal Pradesh, (vii) Jammu & Kashmir, (viii)  Jharkhand,  (ix)  Kerala,  (x)  Madhya  Pradesh,  (xi)  Madras,  (xii)  Manipur,  (xiii) Meghalaya,  (xiv)  Orissa,  (xv)  Patna  (xvi)  Punjab  &  Haryana,  (xvii)  Sikkim,  (xviii) Tripura, and (xix) Uttrakhand.

## *************

## Statement referred to in reply to part (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Un-starred Question No. †1342 dated 03.03.2016 regarding Pending Court Cases.

Cases disposed of in High Courts during last three years

*Operationalisation of High Court was notified on 23 rd March, 2013.

| Sl. No   | High Court       | 2012              | 2013              | 2014              |
|----------|------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|
| Sl. No   | High Court       | Disposal of cases | Disposal of cases | Disposal of cases |
| 1        | Allahabad        | 2,47,539          | 2,36,821          | 3,10,294          |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh   | 66,130            | 58,278            | 66,239            |
| 3        | Bombay           | 1,74,020          | 1,40,761          | 1,30,580          |
| 4        | Calcutta         | 78,428            | 1,34,938          | 95,656            |
| 5        | Delhi            | 35,656            | 35,371            | 40,154            |
| 6        | Gujarat          | 63,778            | 64,450            | 74,444            |
| 7        | Gauhati          | 35,713            | 30,308            | 27,467            |
| 8        | Himachal Pradesh | 37,772            | 36,455            | 62,270            |
| 9        | Jammu &Kashmir   | 16,380            | 24,916            | 23,151            |
| 10       | Karnataka        | 1,21,624          | 1,28,134          | 1,19,824          |
| 11       | Kerala           | 78,801            | 68,871            | 72,173            |
| 12       | Madras           | 2,46,200          | 2,31,817          | 1,29,954          |
| 13       | Madhya Pradesh   | 1,00,281          | 1,11,348          | 1,29,373          |
| 14       | Orissa           | 81,388            | 70,262            | 76,523            |
| 15       | Patna            | 91,328            | 82,343            | 1,04,955          |
| 16       | Punjab & Haryana | 1,08,266          | 1,11,465          | 1,14,801          |
| 17       | Rajasthan        | 1,31,277          | 1,27,928          | 83,792            |
| 18       | Sikkim           | 126               | 140               | 230               |
| 19       | Uttarakhand      | 13,616            | 15,661            | 13,386            |
| 20       | Chhattisgarh     | 27,817            | 28,206            | 28,155            |
| 21       | Jharkhand        | 30,030            | 25,970            | 22,327            |
| 22       | Tripura*         | 0                 | 4,379             | 5,144             |
| 23       | Manipur*         | 0                 | 2,677             | 1,926             |
| 24       | Meghalaya*       | 0                 | 1,418             | 1,724             |
| Total    | Total            | 17,86,170         | 17,72,917         | 17,34,542         |

**********

Annexure-II

Statement referred to in reply to part (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Un-starred Question No. †1342 dated 03.03.2016 regarding Pending Court Cases.

## Cases disposed of in District and Subordinate Courts during last three years

| Sl. No   | States                       | 2012              | 2013              | 2014              |
|----------|------------------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|
| Sl. No   | States                       | Disposal of cases | Disposal of cases | Disposal of cases |
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh and Telangana | 6,06,447          | 5,14,867          | 6,47,130          |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh            | 7,355             | 7,444             | 7,615             |
| 3        | Assam                        | 2,39,706          | 3,14,672          | 2,76,138          |
| 4        | Bihar                        | 3,04,786          | 3,15,586          | 3,05,583          |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh                 | 1,62,104          | 1,79,065          | 1,76,144          |
| 6        | Goa                          | 33,886            | 30,717            | 30,625            |
| 7        | Gujarat                      | 10,72,123         | 11,37,159         | 11,32,433         |
| 8        | Haryana                      | 7,33,591          | 6,08,315          | 5,87,385          |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh             | 2,46,052          | 2,93,575          | 4,09,732          |
| 10       | Jammu & Kashmir              | 2,91,100          | 3,07,192          | 2,97,507          |
| 11       | Jharkhand                    | 1,23,777          | 1,18,076          | 1,10,068          |
| 12       | Karnataka                    | 10,35,706         | 10,17,437         | 13,67,041         |
| 13       | Kerala                       | 11,12,342         | 11,71,821         | 13,55,926         |
| 14       | Madhya Pradesh               | 12,17,733         | 12,73,437         | 11,13,382         |
| 15       | Maharashtra                  | 20,48,255         | 17,10,180         | 15,36,322         |
| 16       | Manipur                      | 14,572            | 16,189            | 14,257            |
| 17       | Meghalaya                    | 2,982             | 3,284             | 11,691            |
| 18       | Mizoram                      | 11,747            | 10,270            | 10,747            |
| 19       | Nagaland                     | 3,179             | 3,062             | 3,047             |
| 20       | Orissa                       | 3,00,337          | 4,14,772          | 4,70,085          |
| 21       | Punjab                       | 7,58,927          | 6,11,671          | 5,49,300          |
| 22       | Rajasthan                    | 11,50,808         | 11,99,745         | 11,32,028         |
| 23       | Sikkim                       | 1,913             | 2,146             | 2,008             |
| 24       | Tamil Nadu                   | 14,99,884         | 18,44,056         | 16,45,329         |
| 25       | Tripura                      | 1,48,688          | 1,58,838          | 1,93,003          |
| 26       | Uttar Pradesh                | 27,98,690         | 29,66,521         | 31,82,318         |
| 27       | Uttarakhand                  | 1,78,409          | 2,22,318          | 2,20,660          |
| 28       | West Bengal and A & N Island | 9,92,367          | 11,84,289         | 10,89,309         |
| 29       | Chandigarh                   | 1,38,558          | 1,53,772          | 1,80,616          |
| 30       | D & N Haveli and Daman & Diu | 8,451             | 3,344             | 2,771             |
| 31       | Delhi                        | 9,18,683          | 9,57,154          | 9,30,732          |
| 32       | Lakshadweep                  | 96                | 93                | 95                |
| 33       | Pondicherry                  | 33,899            | 32,479            | 28,631            |
|          | Total                        | 1,81,97,153       | 1,87,83,546       | 1,90,19,658       |

******************