Lok Sabha Question No. 913 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-12-03
Subject: Pending Court Cases
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: BALKA SUMAN, RAVINDRA VISHWANATH GAIKWAD, J.C. DIVAKAR REDDY, JAYSHREEBEN  PATEL, CHAND NATH, R. GOPALAKRISHNAN

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 913

## TO BE ANSWERED ON THURSDAY, 03 RD  DECEMBER, 2015

## Pending Court Cases

## 913.  SHRI SUMAN BALKA:

PROF. RAVINDRA VISHWANATH GAIKWAD:

SHRI J. C. DIVAKAR REDDY:

SHRIMATI JAYSHREEBEN PATEL:

SHRI CHAND NATH:

SHRI R. GOPALAKRISHNAN:

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

- (a)  the  number  of  cases  pending  in  the  Supreme  Court,  High  Courts  and Subordinate Courts as on date;
- (b)  the number of cases disposed of by these Courts during the last three years and the current year, Court / State / UT-wise;
- (c)  whether  the  Government  has  assessed  the  reasons  for  inordinate  delay  in delivery of justice in the country; and
- (d)  if so, the outcome thereof along with the steps taken / being taken to address the issue and ensure expeditious disposal of the pending cases?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (d): The data on pendency of cases is maintained by the Supreme Court and High Courts.  As per the information available, 58,906 cases are pending in the Supreme Court of India as on 01.12.2015.

The number of cases disposed of by the Supreme Court in last three years  is as follows:-

| Year                   |   Disposal |
|------------------------|------------|
| 2012                   |      33263 |
| 2013                   |      40193 |
| 2014                   |      45021 |
| 2015 (till 01.12.2015) |      44090 |

The Supreme Court has informed that these figures have been calculated taking on the cases disposed (main or connected and not I.A.s) while treating hyphenated matters as a single matter.

As  per  information  made  available  by  the  High  Courts,  41.53  lakh  cases  were pending  in  High  Courts  and  2.64  crore  cases  were  pending  in  District  and  Subordinate Courts as on 31.12.2014. The details of cases disposed of during the last three years in the High Courts and Annexure -

District / Subordinate Courts are given in the Statements at Annexure - I and 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.

Disposal  of  pending  cases  in  courts  is  within  the  domain  of  judiciary.    The Government has adopted a co-ordinated approach to assist judiciary for phased liquidation of arrears and pendency in judicial system, which, inter-alia , involves better infrastructure for courts including computerisation, increase in strength of judicial officers / judges, policy and  legislative  measures  in  the  areas  prone  to  excessive  litigation  and  emphasis  on human resource development.    As a  result  of  concerted  efforts,  the  trend  of  increasing pendency of cases in the subordinate courts has been checked.

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## Annexure-I

## Statement  referred  to  in  reply  to  Lok  Sabha  Un-starred  Question  No.  913  dated 03.12.2015 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 Disposal of cases   | 2013 Disposal of cases   | 2014 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                |

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Annexure-II Statement  referred  to  in  reply  to  Lok  Sabha  Un-starred  Question  No.  913  dated 03.12.2015 regarding Pending Court Cases.

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

| Sl. No   | States                       | 2012                       | 2013                       | 2014                       |
|----------|------------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh and Telangana | Disposal of cases 6,06,447 | Disposal of cases 5,14,867 | Disposal of cases 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                |

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