ANSWER
MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a): As per data available on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), the State-wise details of cases pending for more than 10 years is given in the Annexure. NJDG does not provide data regarding cases of serious nature separately.
(b): As per data available on the website of Supreme Court and National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), the total number of cases pending in various courts as on 14.11.19 is as under:
Name of Court Pending Cases
Supreme Court (As on 01.11.2019) 59,867
High Courts 44,76,625
District and Subordinate Courts 3,14,53,555
Data relating to pending cases in Tribunals is not provided on NJDG. Further, disposal of cases in courts is within the domain of judiciary. 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.
(c): Based on the population as per Census 2011 and as per information available regarding sanctioned strength of Judges in Supreme Court, High Courts and District & Subordinate Courts, the Judges per million population in India works out to be 20.39. In pursuance of the directions of the Supreme Court in the case of Imtiyaz Ahmed versus State of Uttar Pradesh and others, 2012, to evolve a method for scientific assessment of the number of additional courts required to clear the backlog of cases, the Law Commission of India, in its 245th report (2014), did not consider the judge population ratio to be a scientific criterion for determining the adequacy of the judge strength in the country. Further, number of District and Subordinate Courts has increased from 19518 in 2014 to 23566 at present. As on 30.09.19, 704 Fast Track Courts are functional for heinous crimes, crimes against women and children, family and matrimonial disputes, etc. Further, Government has approved a scheme for setting up 1023 Fast Track Special Courts across the country for expeditious disposal of pending 166882 cases under Rape and POCSO Act.
(d): There is no proposal to establish new High Court in the country.
(e): A sum of Rs. 390 crores has been released during the financial years 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 (upto November) to National Legal services Authority (NALSA) towards activities for providing legal aid to common/poor people in the country. NALSA has set up legal services institutions at the level of Taluk Courts, District Courts and States. Apart from these legal services institutions, High Court Legal Services Committees are constituted at all High Courts and the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee at the Supreme Court level to provide free legal services to the persons eligible under Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act. Free legal services include payment of court fees, providing advocate and preparation of paper book. The NALSA has notified National Legal Services Authority (Free and Competent Legal Services) Regulations, 2010. The said Regulation provides entitlement to the poor and weaker section of the society such as member of SC/ST, women and children. Also, pending cases are considered and disposed in Lok Adalats conducted under National Legal Services Authority (NALSA). 172.60 lakh pending cases have been settled in National Lok Adalat from 2015 till date while 88.40 lakh pending cases have been settled in Regular Lok Adalats during 2015-16 to June, 2019.
(f): The Government is committed to speedy disposal of cases and reduction in pendency of cases to improve access to justice in line with the mandate of the Preamble and Article 39A of the Constitution. The Government has taken several initiatives to provide an ecosystem for faster disposal of cases by the judiciary. The National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms established in 2011 by the Government has adopted a coordinated approach for phased liquidation of arrears and pendency in judicial administration through various strategic initiatives, including improving infrastructure [court halls and residential units] for Judicial Officers of District and Subordinate Courts, leveraging Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for better justice delivery, filling up of vacant positions of Judges in High Courts and Supreme Court, reduction in pendency through follow up by Arrears Committees constituted at District, High Court and Supreme Court level, emphasis on Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) and initiatives to fast track special type of cases.
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Sl. No Name of States/UTs Number of Cases pending in District and Subordinate Courts More than 10 Years.
(As On 14.11.2019)
1. A & N Island 0
2. Andhra Pradesh 4213
3. Telangana 6828
4. Arunachal Pradesh ------
5. Assam 2806
6. Bihar 377250
7. Chandigarh 49
8. Chhattisgarh 774
9. D & N Haveli 198
10. Daman & Diu 67
11. Delhi 4865
12. Goa 1698
13. Gujarat 175439
14. Haryana 501
15. Himachal Pradesh 735
16. Jammu & Kashmir 4009
17. Jharkhand 11433
18. Karnataka 35761
19. Kerala 6264
20. Lakshadweep --------
21. Madhya Pradesh 13526
22. Maharashtra 250095
23. Manipur 258
24. Meghalaya 758
25. Mizoram 18
26. Nagaland -------
27. Orissa 175409
28. Punjab 918
29. Rajasthan 48437
30. Sikkim 0
31. Tamil Nadu 34037
32. Pondicherry -------
33. Tripura 1196
34. Uttar Pradesh 943935
35. Uttarakhand 2795
36. West Bengal 286443
Total 2390715
Annexure
State-Wise details of Cases pending in District and Subordinate Courts as on 14.11.2019
Source: NJDG Web portal.
Note: Data on District and Subordinate Courts in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Union Territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry are not available on the web-portal of NJDG.
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