Lok Sabha Question No. 2403 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-13
Subject: Streamlining of Judicial Functioning
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Shri Hanuman Beniwal

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2403 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 13 th  FEBRUARY, 2026

## STREAMLINING OF JUDICIAL FUNCTIONING

## 2403. SHRI HANUMAN BENIWAL:

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

(a) the major legal reforms and initiatives undertaken by the Government during the last five years to improve access to justice and reduce barriers in the legal and judicial processes;

(b) the steps taken by the Government to streamline judicial functioning, reduce pendency of cases,  strengthen  dispute  resolution  mechanisms  including  Lok  Adalats  and  enhance  legal literacy and awareness among citizens across the country;

(c) the manner in which the Government proposes to fulfil its constitutional obligation under Article 39A of the Constitution by providing free and effective legal services to economically weaker, socially marginalized and vulnerable sections of the society; and

(d)  the  details  of  coverage,  implementation  status,  outcomes  and  measurable  impact  of programmes  and  institutions  such  as  the  National  Legal  Services  Authority,  Designing Innovative Solutions for Holistic Access to Justice, Legal Aid Defence  Counsel System and Nyaya Bandhu (Pro-Bono Legal Services) in achieving equitable access to justice, State-wise?

## 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)  to  (d): The Government of India has undertaken various initiatives in  last  five  years  to improve access to justice and reduce barriers in the legal and judicial processeswith the aim to fulfil the obligation under Article 39A of the Indian Constitution.

The  Department  of  Justice,  Ministry  of  Law  and  Justice,  has  been  implementing  a Central Sector Scheme, namely, Designing Innovative Solutions for Holistic Access to Justice

(DISHA), with a total outlay of Rs. 250 crores for a period of five years (2021-2026). It aims to provide a comprehensive, integrated solution on Access to Justice at a pan India level through the  components  of  Tele-Law,  Nyaya  Bandhu,  and  Legal  Literacy  and  Legal  Awareness Programmes. It is a citizen-centric, inclusive,  and leverages technology for ensuring  ease of justice to the beneficiaries. The Tele-Law programme provides free pre-litigation legal advice to citizens through video and telephonic consultations at Common Service Centres (CSCs), the Tele-Law Mobile Application and the dedicated toll-free helpline number 14454. Tele-Law is operational  in  2,50,000  lakh  CSCs  across  776  districts  in  36  States/UTs,  including  112 Aspirational  Districts  and  500  Aspirational  Blocksofthe  country.  To  strengthen  last-mile delivery, Nyaya Sahayakshave been engaged since 2024 to provide door-to-door pre-litigation legal  assistance in  500 Aspirational Blocks. As on 31st January, 2026, more than 1.12 crore pre-litigation advices have been provided across the country.

Under the Nyaya Bandhu (Pro Bono Legal Services) programme, interested Pro Bono Advocates are registered and connected to the beneficiaries (who are entitled for free legal aid under  Section  12  of  the  Legal  Services  Authorities  Act,  1987)  through  the  Nyaya  Bandhu Application (available iOS/Android/UMANG Platform). A panel of Pro Bono Advocates has also been constituted in 23 High Courts to strengthen institutional mechanisms for delivering pro bono legal services to the beneficiary. As on 31 st January,  2026,  10,133  advocates  have volunteered and registered on Nyaya Bandhu platform. Further, to instil the spirit of pro bono work among law students  and  nurture  a  long-term  commitment  to  legal  services,  Pro  Bono Clubs have been constituted across 109 law colleges in the country.Under the Legal Literacy and Legal Awareness Programme, institutional collaboration is done with reputed Government and  private  organisations  to  prepare  information  and  communication  (IEC)  materials  in  the form of books, training modules, workshops, etc.to promote legal literacy and awareness. This Programme has outreached more than 1.20 crore beneficiaries as on 31 January 2026.

Under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) Scheme, 774 Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) including 398 exclusive POCSO (ePOCSO) Courts are functional across 29 States/UTs for the expeditious disposal of pending cases of Rape and POCSO Act, and have collectively disposed of 3,66,124 cases since their inception, as  on  31.12.2025.    The  financial  outlay  under  the  scheme  is  Rs.  1952.23  crore  with  Rs. 1207.24 crore as Central Share to be incurred from Nirbhaya Fund on the CSS pattern. The Central Government, as on 05.02.2026, has released a total amount of Rs. 1,156.99 crore to States/UTs for the operationalization of FTSCs since the inception of the Scheme in 2019.

The  Government  has  set  up  National  Legal  Services  Authority  (NALSA)  under  the Legal Services Authorities (LSA) Act, 1987 to provide free and competent legal services to the weaker  sections  of  the  society  as  covered  under  Section  12  of  the  Act,  to  ensure  that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizens by reason of economic or other disabilities,  and  to  organize  Lok  Adalats  to  secure  that  the  operation  of  the  legal  system promotes  justice  on  the  basis  of  equal  opportunities.  For  this  purpose,  the  legal  services institutions  have  been  setup  from  the  Taluk  Court  level  to  the  Supreme  Court.  The activities/programmes undertaken by Legal Services Authorities include Legal Aid and advice;

Legal  Awareness  Programmes;  Legal  Services/Empowerment  camps;  Legal  Service  Clinics; Legal Literacy Clubs; Lok Adalats and implementation of Victim Compensation Scheme.

Lok  Adalat  is  an  important  Alternative  Disputes  Resolution  Mechanism  available  to common people, 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 it before any court. 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 Lok Adalatsfrom 2016 to Dec 2025are as under:

| Lok Adalat   | Pre-litigative cases settled   | Pending cases settled                                            |
|--------------|--------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 33,80,76,089 | 8,45,59,866                    | National Lok Adalat                                              |
| 39,33,548    | 67,03,159                      | State Lok Adalats                                                |
| 14,58,389    | -                              | Permanent Lok Adalats (cases relating to public utility service) |

As  per  Article  39A  of  the  Constitution  of  India  and  as  a  part  of  the  preventive  and strategic  legal  aid,  NALSA  through  the  State  Legal  Services  Authoritiesand  District  Legal Services Authority (DLSA) has undertaken several legal services activities in the country to ensure that legal aid reach the poor. To strengthen the criminal court based legal services, the Department  of  Justice  is  implementing  a  Central  Sector  Scheme,  namely,  the  Legal  Aid Defense Counsel System (LADCS)Scheme, which involves full time engagement of Legal Aid Defense Counsels (LADCs) with supporting staff at district level.As on December 2025, Legal Aid Defense Counsel (LADC) offices are functional in 680 districts across the country. LADCS  Scheme  has  been  approved  for  the  period  of  3  financial  years  2023-24  to 2025-26) with a totalfinancial outlay of Rs. 998.43 crore and up to January 2026, Rs. 643.755 crore has been released to NALSA for LADCS Scheme.The details of criminal cases assigned and disposed of by LADCs during the last three years are as follows: -

| Financial Year      | Criminal Cases assigned   | Criminal Cases disposed   | Disposal Rate   |
|---------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|-----------------|
| 2023-24             | 3,36,830                  | 2,12,505                  | 63%             |
| 2024-25             | 5,32,413                  | 3,72,750                  | 70%             |
| 2025-26 (Dec. 2025) | 3,93,614                  | 2,86,326                  | 73%             |
| Total               | 12,62,857                 | 8,71,581                  | 69%             |

The Phase-III of the eCourts Project (2023-2027) approved on 13.09.2023 with an outlay of Rs.7,210 crore to make justice delivery progressively more robust, easy and accessible. As on

31st  December,  2025,  significant  achievements  have  been  made  under  the  eCourts  Project, inter alia:

- i. A total of 3,93,22,695 cases were dealt with (virtual hearings) on video conferencing in High Courts and District Courts.
- ii. Video Conferencing Rules has been implemented in all the High Courts and District Courts
- iii. Rules of eFiling, facility of ePayments and ICJS have been implemented in almost all the High Courts
- iv. A total  of  94,55,288  challans  have  been  paid  through  29  Virtual  Courts  functioning across the country, resulting in collection of Rs. 9,73,25,50,414 as Challan Amount.
- v. 1,03,96,720  cases  have  been  submitted  through  e-filing  in  High  Courts  and  District Courts.
- vi. The number of downloads of the eCourts Services Mobile App is 3,54,86,435, while downloads of the eCourts Services JustIS app stand at 22,090.
- vii. 2,36,96,50,903  pages  have  been  digitized  in  High  Courts,  and  4,00,89,15,374  pages have been digitized in District Courts.
- viii. Justice Clocks have been installed in 37 High Courts, and 30 District Courts.
- ix. A total  of  2,331  e-Sewa  Kendras  are  functioning  in  High  Courts  and  District  Courts across the country benefiting a large number of litigants.
- x. The CIS 4.0 has been implemented in all court complexes and the eCommittee has also released a User Manual on CIS 4.0.
- xi. As part of the e-Courts initiative, seven platforms have been set up to provide near realtime updates on case status, cause lists, judgments and more. These updates are being sent to lawyers and litigants through SMS Push and Pull (over 4 lakh SMS sent daily), email (over 6 lakh sent daily), the multilingual e-Courts services portal (with 35 lakh hits daily), Judicial Service Centres (JSCs) and Info Kiosks.
- xii. Live  streaming  of  court  proceedings  has  been  introduced  in  several  High  Courts, including  those  in  Gujarat,  Gauhati,  Orissa,  Karnataka,  Jharkhand,  Patna,  Madhya Pradesh,  Uttarakhand  and  Calcutta  allowing  media  and  other  interested  parties  to participate in the proceedings.
- xiii. A total of 96.1% of the target for installing solar power facilities in Court Complexes has been achieved.
- xiv. The  Electronic  Motor  Accidents  Claims  Tribunal  (e-MACT)  platform  to  facilitate expeditious, online and asynchronous dealing of Motor Accidents Claim Petitions has been developed. The testing of the eMACT project in the live environment commenced from 07.05.2025 in the pilot court.
- xv. NJDG (National Judicial Data Grid) has been upgraded with an improved dashboard, functioning as a monitoring tool, to identify, manage & reduce pendency of cases. It also provides information regarding the reasons for delay in disposal of the cases which are categorized on various attributes.

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