5.15 crore cases pending across Indian courts: Govt report
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New Delhi: A total of 5.15 crore cases remain pending across various courts in India, including the Supreme Court, High Courts, and District and Subordinate Courts, the government informed Parliament on Thursday.
In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice, Arjun Ram Meghwal, disclosed that 82,171 cases are pending in the Supreme Court, based on data from the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) as of November 30.
Additionally, 57.82 lakh cases are pending in the High Courts, and a staggering 4.56 crore cases remain unresolved in District and Subordinate Courts.
The Minister attributed the backlog to various factors, including inadequate physical infrastructure, shortage of supporting court staff, the complexity of cases, and challenges in evidence presentation. Cooperation from stakeholders, such as bar associations, investigation agencies, witnesses, and litigants, along with proper application of rules and procedures, also plays a significant role in delays. Further contributing to the pendency are the lack of prescribed timeframes for case disposal, frequent adjournments, and insufficient mechanisms to monitor, track, and group cases for hearing.
The Minister also highlighted the judge-population ratio, stating that, based on the 2011 Census (population of 1210.19 million), the current ratio stands at approximately 21 judges per million people.
In terms of judicial appointments, Meghwal shared that in 2024, 34 new judges were appointed to High Courts, while in 2023, 110 judges were appointed. The previous years saw varying numbers, with 165 appointments in 2022, 120 in 2021, and 81 in 2019. For the Supreme Court, four judges were appointed in 2024, 14 in 2023, three in 2022, and nine in 2021. There were no Supreme Court appointments in 2020.
The report underscores the ongoing challenges within the judicial system, including the rising backlog of cases and the need for better infrastructure and judicial resources to address the growing caseload.
With IANS inputs
