ANSWER
MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE AND ELECTRONICS AND
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a) to (e): Data on pendency of cases is maintained by the Supreme Court and High Courts. As per the information made available by the Supreme Court of India, 27,184 cases were pending in the Supreme Court of India for more than 3 years as on 15.07.2016. As per information made available by the High Courts, details of age-wise pendency of cases in various High Courts and District / Subordinate Courts as on 31.12.2015 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.
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.
The sanctioned strength of High Court Judges has increased from 906 judges in June 2014 to 1079 judges in June 2016. The sanctioned strength of judicial officers / judges in Districts and Subordinate Courts is within the domain of 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 Arrears Committees have been set up in the High Courts to clear backlog of cases pending for more than five years. 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.
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Annexure-I
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 741 FOR ANSWER ON 21 JULY, 2016.
Age-wise Breakup of Pending Cases in High Courts as on 31.12.2015
Sl. No High Court 0 to 2 years old 2 to 5 years old 5 to 10 years old More than 10 years old Total
1. Allahabad 163852 188122 255660 311195 918829
2. Andhra Pradesh 87543 84913 72316 25500 270272
3. Bombay 80536 54185 61318 50402 246441
4. Calcutta 48856 41228 64330 66868 221282
5. Delhi 38773 13653 11854 4504 68784
6. Gujarat 31129 21277 21322 13344 87072
7. Gauhati 14359 7537 3765 287 25948
8. Himachal Pradesh 10863 10705 4022 943 26533
9. Jammu & Kashmir 22916 15975 14462 3100 56453
10. Karnataka 131812 79659 24776 1207 237454
11. Kerala 58801 45119 41818 11631 157369
12. Madras 103248 89563 60219 31398 284428
13. Madhya Pradesh 93639 74283 68795 37110 273827
14. Orissa 46242 41749 38739 42723 169453
15. Patna 57201 34194 20379 16964 128738
16. Punjab & Haryana 113585 62389 52333 60044 288351
17. Rajasthan 73443 59190 65440 46793 244866
18. Sikkim 110 3 1 0 114
19. Uttarakhand 13205 8395 4394 686 26680
20. Chhattisgarh 18771 12529 10912 7899 50111
21. Jharkhand 25101 21719 22065 11534 80419
22. Tripura 2340 619 77 1 3037
23. Manipur 1714 1435 160 6 3315
24. Meghalaya 552 27 18 0 597
Total 1238591
968468
919175
744139
3870373
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Annexure-II
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 741 FOR ANSWER ON 21 JULY, 2016.
Age-wise Breakup of Pending Cases in District / Subordinate Courts as on 31.12.2015
Sl. No Name of the State / UT 0 to 2 years old 2 to 5 years old 5 to 10 years old More than 10 years old Total
1. Andhra Pradesh and Telegana 622506 282212 108166 18631 1031515
2. Arunachal Pradesh 6518 2080 119 59 8776
3. Assam 154879 66632 14916 6076 242503
4. Bihar 632787 645972 620527 174017 2073303
5. Chhattisgarh 134843 82279 45793 23047 285962
6. Goa 30036 5503 2353 1723 39615
7. Gujarat 742025 562628 448624 388734 2142011
8. Haryana 396382 117644 9773 482 524281
9. Himachal Pradesh 96825 51707 13312 709 162553
10. Jammu & Kashmir 83151 29948 9525 2139 124763
11. Jharkhand 125836 129669 57007 11845 324357
12. Karnataka 746141 369469 131383 21973 1268966
13. Kerala 955114 304372 77898 7743 1345127
14. Madhya Pradesh 638716 404688 111980 36415 1191799
15. Maharashtra 1734069 657484 390280 212241 2994074
16. Manipur 2213 3473 1150 49 6885
17. Meghalaya 2141 2084 2868 400 7493
18. Mizoram 3674 866 82 49 4671
19. Nagaland 1979 848 604 431 3862
20. Orissa 430432 248782 226838 157987 1064039
21. Punjab 355164 127977 19510 1377 504028
22. Rajasthan 674740 423125 273622 107686 1479173
23. Sikkim 1140 148 7 4 1299
24. Tamil Nadu 557620 352011 131009 42153 1082793
25. Tripura 97851 20378 8896 2664 129789
26. Uttar Pradesh 2198544 1648674 1075769 651503 5574490
27. Uttarakhand 100523 46457 16237 3401 166618
28. West Bengal 1276815 817755 389326 134917 2618813
29. A & N Island 4717 3107 1484 187 9495
30. Chandigarh 27640 7452 1167 63 36322
31. D & N Haveli 2086 282 1153 382 3903
32. Daman & Diu 1226 221 196 80 1723
33. Delhi 335694 128236 55399 20272 539601
34. Lakshadweep 224 116 37 3 380
35. Pondicherry 13387 7952 3109 525 24973
Total 13187638
7552231
4250119
2029967
27019955
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