Pending cases in courts across India inching towards 5 crore
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New Delhi: The number of pending cases in various courts in India is inching towards the figure of five crores, the Union government submitted before Lok Sabha.
Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju informed the House that 72,062 cases are pending in Supreme Court as of July 1, while 59,55,873 cases were pending in the 25 high courts as of July 25.
In his written reply, the minister further said that more than 4.23 crore cases were pending in the district and subordinate courts. Thus, the total number of pending cases reached 4.83 crore cases across India.
The question "whether the government has assessed the reasons for huge pendency of cases in various courts" meant for a written reply, was asked by a total of 26 Lok Sabha members.
To the question, "whether the government has assessed the reasons for huge pendency of cases in various courts," by 26 MPs, the minister replied that disposal of pending cases rests within the domain of the judiciary. There is no time frame prescribed for disposal of pending cases by respective courts, he said.
He also said that the government is not directly involved in the disposing of cases, while timely disposal depends on many factors, including the availability of an adequate number of judges and judicial officers, supporting court staff and physical infrastructure, the complexity of facts involved, nature of evidence, the co-operation of the Bar, investigation agencies, witnesses and litigants and proper application of rules and procedures.
"These, inter-alia, include vacancies of judges, frequent adjournments and lack of adequate arrangement to monitor, track and bunch cases for hearing," he said.
On July 26, responding to a debate on Family Courts (Amendment) Bill in Lok Sabha, he said that blaming the government or judiciary for pending cases. He noted that while litigations get settled, double the number of cases are added to the courts' dockets every day.
"People question what the government, the law minister, is doing. I feel sad. While raising such serious issues like pending cases, people should get into the details first," the minister had said.
He had also objected to foul or inappropriate words being used to attack the courts.
Further, he objected to foul or inappropriate words being used to attack the courts. "Judges work hard. There are judges who have settled hundreds of cases in a day. They work from 9 am to 9 pm," he said. According to him, pendency is due to "something else".
