ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR LAW AND JUSTICE AND ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY)
(a) to (f): Based on the population as per Census 2011 and sanctioned strength of Judges / Judicial Officers in the Supreme Court, High Courts and District & Subordinate Courts as on 31.12.2015, the judge - population ratio in the country works out to be around 18 Judges / Judicial Officers per million population. Vacancy position of Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts (High Court-wise) as on 25.07.2016 is given in the Statement at Annexure – I. Vacancy position of Judges / Judicial Officers in District and Subordinate Courts (State / UT -wise) as on 31.12.2015 is given in the Statement at Annexure – II.
As per the information made available by the Supreme Court of India, 62,657 cases were pending in the Supreme Court as on 30.06.2016. As per information made available by the High Courts, details of pendency of cases in various High Courts and District / Subordinate Courts as on 31.12.2015 are given in the Statements at Annexure – III and Annexure – IV respectively.
The subject matters relating to Subordinate Judiciary including creation of Fast Track Courts, Evening Courts, Special courts etc. fall within the domain of the State Governments and High Courts concerned. On account of the concerted efforts made by all stakeholders the sanctioned strength of the Judicial Officers of District and Subordinate Courts has increased from 17,715 at the end of 2012 to 20,502 in December, 2015. The sanctioned strength of High Court Judges has increased from 906 judges in June 2014 to 1079 judges in June 2016.
The Supreme Court, in the case of Imtiyaz Ahmed versus State of Uttar Pradesh & Others, inter-alia, asked the Law Commission of India to evolve a method for scientific assessment of the number of additional courts to clear the backlog of cases. The Law Commission in its 245th Report recommended ‘Rate of Disposal Method’ for calculating adequate judge strength for District and Subordinate Courts. The matter is sub-judice before the Supreme Court, at present.
As per information received from Department of Personnel and Training, there is no proposal at present to issue directions to various Ministries / Departments for settlement of cases pending for more than three years amongst their employees.
Government has adopted a co-ordinated approach to assist judiciary for phased liquidation of arrears and pendency in judicial systems, 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.
The matters relating to recruitment to the judicial services in the States fall within the domain of the High Courts and State Governments. An agenda item for creation of a Judicial Service Commission to help the recruitment to the post of district judges and review of selection process of judges / judicial officers at all levels was included in the agenda for the Chief Justices Conference, which was held on 03rd and 04th April, 2015. During the Conference, it was resolved to leave it open to the respective High Courts to evolve appropriate methods within the existing system to fill up the vacancies for appointment of District judges expeditiously.
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Annexure-I
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1847 FOR ANSWER ON 28TH JULY, 2016.
Vacancy Position of Judges in Supreme Court and High Courts as on 25.07.2016
Sl. No. Name of the Court Vacancies as on 25.07.2016
A. Supreme Court of India 03
B. High Court
1 Allahabad 83
2 High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad 36
3 Bombay 30
4 Calcutta 31
5 Chhattisgarh 14
6 Delhi 25
7 Gauhati 11
8 Gujarat 19
9 Himachal Pradesh 02
10 Jammu & Kashmir 08
11 Jharkhand 11
12 Karnataka 35
13 Kerala 14
14 Madhya Pradesh 19
15 Madras 37
16 Manipur 01
17 Meghalaya 01
18 Orissa 08
19 Patna 26
20 Punjab & Haryana 41
21 Rajasthan 19
22 Sikkim 01
23 Tripura 0
24 Uttarakhand 05
Total 477
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Annexure - II
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1847 FOR ANSWER ON 28TH JULY, 2016.
Vacancy Position of Judges in District and Subordinate Courts as on 31.12.2015
Sr. No. Name of State / UT Vacancies as on 31.12.2015
1 Arunachal Pradesh 2
2 Andhra Pradesh & Telengana 249
3 Assam 105
4 Bihar 660
5 Chandigarh 0
6 Chhattisgarh 44
7 Daman & Diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli 1
8 Delhi 303
9 Goa 8
10 Gujarat 769
11 Haryana 170
12 Himachal Pradesh 18
13 Jammu and Kashmir 25
14 Jharkhand 126
15 Karnataka 302
16 Kerala 15
17 Lakshadweep 0
18 Madhya Pradesh 218
19 Maharashtra 334
20 Manipur 6
21 Meghalaya 28
22 Mizoram 33
23 Nagaland 2
24 Orissa 118
25 Puducherry 12
26 Punjab 182
27 Rajasthan 206
28 Sikkim 4
29 Tamil nadu 46
30 Tripura 36
31 Uttar Pradesh 277
32 Uttarakhand 74
33 West Bengal and A & N Islands 59
Total 4,432
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Annexure-III
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1847 FOR ANSWER ON 28TH JULY, 2016.
Number of pending cases in High Courts as on 31.12.2015
Sl. No High Court Number of pending cases in High Courts as on 31.12.2015
1. Allahabad 9,18,829
2. Andhra Pradesh 2,70,272
3. Bombay 2,46,441
4. Calcutta 2,21,282
5. Delhi 68,784
6. Gujarat 87,072
7. Gauhati 25,948
8. Himachal Pradesh 26,533
9. Jammu & Kashmir 56,453
10. Karnataka 2,37,454
11. Kerala 1,57,369
12. Madras 2,84,428
13. Madhya Pradesh 2,73,827
14. Orissa 1,69,453
15. Patna 1,28,738
16. Punjab & Haryana 2,88,351
17. Rajasthan 2,44,866
18. Sikkim 114
19. Uttarakhand 26,680
20. Chhattisgarh 50,111
21. Jharkhand 80,419
22. Tripura 3,037
23. Manipur 3,315
24. Meghalaya 597
Total 38,70,373
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Annexure-IV
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1847 FOR ANSWER ON 28TH JULY, 2016.
Number of pending cases in District and Subordinate Courts as on 31.12.2015
Sl. No Name of the State / UT Number of pending cases in District and Subordinate Courts as on 31.12.2015
1. Andhra Pradesh and Telegana 10,31,515
2. Arunachal Pradesh 8,776
3. Assam 2,42,503
4. Bihar 20,73,303
5. Chhattisgarh 2,85,962
6. Goa 39,615
7. Gujarat 21,42,011
8. Haryana 5,24,281
9. Himachal Pradesh 1,62,553
10. Jammu & Kashmir 1,24,763
11. Jharkhand 3,24,357
12. Karnataka 12,68,966
13. Kerala 13,45,127
14. Madhya Pradesh 11,91,799
15. Maharashtra 29,94,074
16. Manipur 6,885
17. Meghalaya 7,493
18. Mizoram 4,671
19. Nagaland 3,862
20. Orissa 10,64,039
21. Punjab 5,04,028
22. Rajasthan 14,79,173
23. Sikkim 1,299
24. Tamil Nadu 10,82,793
25. Tripura 1,29,789
26. Uttar Pradesh 55,74,490
27. Uttarakhand 1,66,618
28. West Bengal 26,18,813
29. A & N Island 9,495
30. Chandigarh 36,322
31. D & N Haveli 3,903
32. Daman & Diu 1,723
33. Delhi 5,39,601
34. Lakshadweep 380
35. Pondicherry 24,973
Total 2,70,19,955
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