ANSWER
MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a) : As per the information available on National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), State / UT-wise details of civil and criminal cases pending in District and Subordinate Courts are given in a Statement attached as Annexure.
(b) to (e) : No time frame has been prescribed for disposal of various kinds of cases by the respective courts. Government has no role in disposal of cases in courts. The Central Government is fully committed to speedy disposal of cases in accordance with Article 21 of the Constitution and reducing pendency. 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 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 for courts, leveraging Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for better justice delivery, and filling up of vacant positions of Judges in High Courts and Supreme Court. The major achievements during the last five years under various initiatives to make the functioning of judiciary more efficient are as follows:
(i) Improving infrastructure for Judicial Officers of District and Subordinate Courts: As on date, Rs.6,986.50 crores have been released since the inception of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary in 1993-94. Out of this, 3,542.20crores (which are 50.70% of the total amount released till date) have been released to the States and UTs since April, 2014. The number of court halls has increased from 15,818 as on 30.06.2014 to 19,101 as on date and number of residential units has increased from 10,211 as on 30.06.2014 to 16,777 as on date under this scheme. In addition, 2,879 court halls and 1,886 residential units are under construction. The Central Government has approved continuation of the Scheme beyond the 12th Five Year Plan period i.e. from 01.04.2017 to 31.03.2020 with an estimated additional outlay of Rs.3,320 crore.
(ii) Leveraging Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for improved justice delivery: Government has been implementing the e-Courts Mission Mode Project throughout the country for Information and Communication Technology enablement of district and subordinate courts. Number of computerised District & Subordinate courts has increased from 13,672 to 16,845 registering an increase of 3,173 during 2014 till date. New and user-friendly version of Case Information Software developed and deployed at all the computerized District and Subordinate Courts. QR Code facility made operational in the software, which enables to check current status of the case. National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) provides citizens with online information about case filings, case status and electronic copies of orders and judgments from district and subordinate courts that have already been computerized. Information regarding 11.67 crore cases is available on this portal. eCourts services such as details of case registration, cause list, case status, daily orders & final judgments are available to litigants and advocates through eCourts web portal, Judicial Service Centres (JSC) in all computerised courts, eCourts Mobile App, email service, SMS push & pull services. Information Kiosks have been setup at all computerized court complexes for disseminating judicial information related to cause lists and other case related information to the lawyers and litigants. eCourts Project has been consistently amongst the top 5 Mission Mode Projects of country.
(iii) : Filling up of vacant positions in Supreme Court, High Courts and District and Subordinate Courts: From 01.05.2014 to 24.06.2019, 31 Judges were appointed in Supreme Court. 454 new Judges were appointed and 366 Additional Judges were made permanent in the High Courts. Sanctioned strength of Judges of High Courts has been increased from 906 in May, 2014 to 1079 currently. Sanctioned and working strength of Judicial Officers in District and Subordinate Courts has been increased as follows:
As on Sanctioned Strength Working Strength
31.12.2013 19,518 15,115
27.06.2019 21,340 17,757
(iv) Reduction in Pendency through / follow up by Arrears Committees: Further, in pursuance of resolution passed in Chief Justices’ Conference held in April, 2015, Arrears Committees have been set up in High Courts to clear cases pending for more than five years. Arrears Committees have been set up under District Judges too. Arrears Committee has been constituted in the Supreme Court to formulate steps to reduce pendency of cases in High Courts and District Courts.
(v) Emphasis on Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR): Commercial Courts Act, 2015 (as amended on 20th August, 2018) stipulates mandatory pre-Institution mediation and settlement of commercial disputes. Amendment to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 has been made by the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act 2015 for expediting the speedy resolution of disputes by prescribing timelines.
(vi) Initiatives to Fast Track Special Type of Cases: The Fourteenth Finance Commission endorsed the proposal of the Government to strengthen the judicial system in States which included, inter-alia, establishing Fast Track Courts for cases of heinous crimes; cases involving senior citizens, women, children etc., and urged the State Governments to use the additional fiscal space provided in the form of enhanced tax devolution form 32% to 42% to meet such requirements. At present, 581 such Fast Track Courts are functioning across the country. To fast track criminal cases involving elected MPs / MLAs, twelve (12) Special Courts were set up in eleven (11) States (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and NCT of Delhi) and proportionate funds have been released to these States by the Government. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 has been enacted on 11.08.2018 to amend the Indian Penal Code, Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
****************
Annexure
Statement referred to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1818 for reply on 03rd July, 2019 regarding Time Frame for Disposal of Criminal Cases
Details of Civil and Criminal Cases pending District and Subordinate Courts
Sr. No. Name of the State / UT Civil Cases Criminal Cases Total
1. Andhra Pradesh 301437 245046 546483
2. Assam 66024 227416 293440
3. Bihar 384676 2330204 2714880
4. Chandigarh 18026 28992 47018
5. Chhattisgarh 56041 204768 260809
6. Delhi 190219 598144 788363
7. Diu and Daman 1124 1079 2203
8. Dadra and Nagar Haveli 1397 1695 3092
9. Goa 13426 10768 24194
10. Gujarat 428860 1243392 1672252
11. Haryana 295444 510343 805787
12. Himachal Pradesh 119649 159644 279293
13. Jammu and Kashmir 71954 97135 169089
14. Jharkhand 64516 301604 366120
15. Karnataka 750997 881187 1632184
16. Kerala 382997 873082 1256079
17. Madhya Pradesh 335163 1109192 1444355
18. Maharashtra 1205140 2495640 3700780
19. Manipur 5680 4218 9898
20. Meghalaya 1994 5381 7375
21. Mizoram 1072 1270 2342
22. Odisha 256824 927596 1184420
23. Punjab 268436 355692 624128
24. Rajasthan 404292 1142758 1547050
25. Sikkim 515 813 1328
26. Tamilnadu 654269 500804 1155073
27. Telengana 236415 298719 535134
28. Tripura 7453 15615 23068
29. Uttar Pradesh 1729831 5732842 7462673
30. Uttarakhand 36155 192286 228441
31. West Bengal 504374 1766327 2270701
Total 8794400
22263652
31058052
Source: National Judicial Data Grid. Data in respect of Andaman & Nicobar Island, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland are not available on the web-portal of National Judicial Data Grid.
Download PDF Files
