(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 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.
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
Sl. No High Court 2012 2013 2014
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 17,86,170
17,72,917
17,34,542
*Operationalisation of High Court was notified on 23rd March, 2013.
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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
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
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