ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR LAW AND JUSTICE AND CORPORATE AFFAIRS
(SHRI P. P. CHAUDHARY)
(a): Data on pendency of cases in the Supreme Court and High Courts is maintained by the Supreme Court and High Courts respectively. As per latest information available on the website of Supreme Court of India, the total number of pending cases in the Supreme Court is 54,013. As per information available on the web-portal of National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), 43.48 lakh cases are pending in various High Courts as on date. High Court-wise details of pending cases are given in a Statement at Annexure – I. 2.75 crore cases are pending in various District and Subordinate courts of the country (excluding State / Union Territories of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Lakshadweep and Puducherry) as on date. State / UT – wise details of pending cases are given in a Statement at Annexure -II.
(b): Disposal of cases pending in various courts is within the domain of judiciary. In pursuance of resolution passed in the Chief Justices’ Conference held in April, 2015, all the High Courts have set up Arrears Committees to take necessary steps for clearing the backlog of pending cases. The Arrears Committees have chalked out Action Plans to reduce pendencies in their respective jurisdictions. The Supreme Court has also constituted an Arrears Committee to formulate steps to reduce pendency of cases in High Courts and District Courts. At district level, the District Judge holds monthly meeting of all judicial officers to monitor progress made in reduction of long pending cases. Further, the Central Government has taken several steps to provide an ecosystem for faster disposal of cases by the judiciary. The Government has set up a National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms to achieve this objective. The Mission has adopted a coordinated approach for improving the working condition of the district and subordinate judiciary through various strategic initiatives, including improving infrastructure for courts, leveraging information, communication and technology (ICT) for better justice delivery, and filling up of vacant positions of judges in High Courts and Supreme Court.
(c): The details regarding total number of judges appointed during the last three years, year and court-wise in the Supreme Court and High Courts are given in a Statement at Annexure -III.
(d): Disposal of cases pending in various courts is within the domain of judiciary.
(e): Timely disposal of cases in courts depends on several factors which, inter-alia, include availability of adequate number of judges, supporting court staff and physical infrastructure, complexity of facts involved, nature of evidence, co-operation of stake holders viz. bar, investigation agencies, witnesses and litigants and proper application of rules and procedures.
Filling up of vacancies in the Supreme Court and the High courts is a continuous and collaborative process, between the Executive and the Judiciary. It requires consultation and approval from various Constitutional Authorities. Initiation of proposal for appointment of Judges in the Supreme Court vests with the Chief Justice of India, while initiation of proposals for appointment of Judges in the High Courts vests with the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court. While every effort is made to fill up the existing vacancies expeditiously, vacancies in High Courts do keep on arising on account of retirement, resignation or elevation of Judges and also the increase in the strength of Judges. The total number of judges appointed during the last three years, year and court-wise in the Supreme Court and High Courts is given in reply to part (c) above.
As per the Constitutional framework, the selection and appointment of judges in subordinate courts is the responsibility of the High Courts and State Governments concerned. In so far as recruitment of judicial officers in the States is concerned, respective High Courts do it in certain States, whereas the High Courts do it in consultation with the State Public Service Commissions in other States. Department of Justice had written in March, 2018 to the Registrar General of High courts as well as State Governments to share the action plan for 2018-19 to fill up vacancies in subordinate judiciary. All High Courts have shared the action plan they propose to follow to fill up vacancies in subordinate judiciary in 2018-19. Sanctioned strength of Judicial Officers in District and Subordinate Courts has increased from 19,518 as on 31.12.2013 to 22,545 as on 31.03.2018. Working strength of Judicial Officers in District and Subordinate Courts has increased from 15,115 as on 31.12.2013 to 17,109 as on 31.03.2018.
Further, in order to strengthen judicial infrastructure in districts, the Central Government has approved continuation of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary, being implemented since 1993-94, beyond the 12th Five Year Plan period i.e. from 01.04.2017 to 31.03.2020 with an estimated outlay of Rs.3,320 crore. Under this scheme, a total of Rs. 6292.44 crore has been released since 1993-94, out of which Rs. 2848.14 crore (45.26%) has been released since April, 2014. 18,444 Court Halls and 15,853 Residential Accommodations have been made available for Judicial Officers of District and Subordinate Courts as on date. In addition, 2,709 Court Halls and 1,472 Residential Accommodations are under construction.
(f): In pursuance of resolution passed in the Chief Justices’ Conference held in April, 2015, all the High Courts have set up Arrears Committees to take necessary steps for clearing the backlog of pending cases. The Arrears Committees have chalked out Action Plans to reduce pendencies in their respective jurisdictions. The Supreme Court has also constituted an Arrears Committee to formulate steps to reduce pendency of cases in High Courts and District Courts. At district level, the District Judge holds monthly meeting of all judicial officers to monitor progress made in reduction of long pending cases.
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Annexure - I
Statement referred to Lok Sabha Un-starred Question No. 1198 for reply on 25.07.2018
Details of cases pending in High Courts
S. No. High Court Name Civil Criminal Writs Total
1 Allahabad High Court 155237 308292 247945 711474
2 Calcutta High Court 107960 42241 84634 234835
3 Gauhati High Court 14019 7374 16005 37398
4 High Court of Bombay 302656 50704 110714 464074
5 High Court of Chhattisgarh 18033 24354 20178 62565
6 High Court of Delhi 30442 19591 22733 72766
7 High Court of Gujarat 36136 35012 38270 109418
8 High Court of Himachal Pradesh 25758 6426 5853 38037
9 High Court of Jammu and Kashmir 76638 8452 0 85090
10 High Court of Jharkhand 15220 43832 29975 89027
11 High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad 131580 50826 171229 353635
12 High Court of Karnataka 122764 31970 69925 224659
13 High Court of Kerala 81427 39963 68150 189540
14 High Court of Madhya Pradesh 107763 122293 91763 321819
15 High Court of Manipur 14183 1552 0 15735
16 High Court of Meghalaya 323 48 655 1026
17 High Court of Punjab and Haryana 201456 125485 75341 402282
18 High Court of Rajasthan 86479 72261 106138 264878
19 High Court of Sikkim 59 64 117 240
20 High Court of Tripura 939 450 1625 3014
21 High Court of Uttarakhand 10027 10618 14776 35421
22 Madras High Court 128196 42105 144044 314345
23 Orissa High Court 42926 41403 83059 167388
24 Patna High Court 30658 57640 61556 149854
Total Pending Cases 1740879 1142956 1464685 4348520
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Source : National Judicial Data Grid.
Annexure - II
Statement referred to Lok Sabha Un-starred Question No. 1198 for reply on 25.07.2018
Details of cases pending in District and Subordinate Courts
State Civil Criminal Total
1 Andaman and Nicobar 3296 7889 11185
2 Andhra Pradesh 287927 223174 511101
3 Assam 61284 209067 270351
4 Bihar 259069 1477027 1736096
5 Chandigarh 16579 24521 41100
6 Chhattisgarh 57137 208654 265791
7 Delhi 186821 494501 681322
8 Diu and Daman 1042 867 1909
9 Dadra & Nagar Haveli t Silvasa 1451 2045 3496
10 Goa 21673 20827 42500
11 Gujarat 508751 1099682 1608433
12 Haryana 273527 395403 668930
13 Himachal Pradesh 112327 127024 239351
14 Jammu and Kashmir 62822 75147 137969
15 Jharkhand 57626 288891 346517
16 Karnataka 690758 775626 1466384
17 Kerala 385566 869204 1254770
18 Madhya Pradesh 310405 1059926 1370331
19 Maharashtra 1152230 2272750 3424980
20 Manipur 5831 4218 10049
21 Meghalaya 2040 4840 6880
22 Mizoram 1569 2464 4033
23 Orissa 246773 828347 1075120
24 Punjab 255658 354444 610102
25 Rajasthan 397705 1053170 1450875
26 Sikkim 592 880 1472
27 Tamil Nadu 610667 462119 1072786
28 Telangana 215779 270064 485843
29 Tripura 7890 16257 24147
30 Uttar Pradesh 1618730 4997036 6615766
31 Uttarakhand 33641 191652 225293
32 West Bengal 484068 1389169 1873237
Total Pending Cases 8331234 19206885 27538119
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Source : National Judicial Data Grid.
Annexure - III
Statement referred to Lok Sabha Un-starred Question No. 1198 for reply on 25.07.2018
Details of number of judges appointed during the last three years, year and court-wise in the Supreme Court and High Courts
A. Supreme Court:
Fresh
appointment
made during 01.01.2016
to 31.12.2016 Fresh
appointment
made during 01.01.2017
to 31.12.2017 Fresh
appointment
made during 01.01.2018
to 20.07.2018
04 05 01
B. High Courts:
Sl.
No. Name of the High Court Fresh
appointment
made during 1.1.2016
to 31.12.2016 Fresh
appointment
made during 1.1.2017
to 31.12.2017 Fresh
appointment
made during 1.1.2018
to 20.07.2018
1 Allahabad 20 31 --
2 Telangana & Andhra Pradesh 01 10 --
3 Bombay 06 14 --
4 Calcutta 01 06 07
5 Chhattisgarh 03 03 04
6 Delhi 05 04 --
7 Gauhati 05 02 --
8 Gujarat 05 -- --
9 Himachal Pradesh 04 -- --
10 Jammu & Kashmir -- 03 --
11 Jharkhand 04 02 03
12 Karnataka 05 02 07
13 Kerala 05 03 --
14 Madhya Pradesh 18 -- 05
15 Madras 25 12 07
16 Manipur 01 -- --
17 Meghalaya -- -- --
18 Orissa -- -- --
19 Patna 06 06 --
20 Punjab& Haryana 01 08 --
21 Rajasthan 11 05 --
22 Sikkim -- 01 --
23 Tripura -- -- 01
24 Uttarakhand -- 03 --
Total 126 115 34
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