The parliamentary session witnessed crucial inquiries regarding the staggering number of pending cases and their impact on justice delivery. Minister Meghwal acknowledged over 2 lakh cases pending for more than 25 years, citing reasons ranging from evidential complexities to infrastructural inadequacies.
On December 14, during the ongoing winter parliamentary session, Ram Nath Thakur, leader of Janata Dal party in Rajya Sabha, raised several questions regarding the number of cases pending in the courts for more than 25 years and the reasons behind it. He also raised questions regarding the impact of this inordinate pending on the common man who is faced with financial hardships. These questions were presented to Arjun Ram Meghwal, who is currently serving as the Minister of Law and Justice.
Meghwal provided a comprehensive response addressing longstanding pending cases in lower courts. As on 6th December 2023, there were 2,32,047 lakh cases pending for more than 25 years. The reasons for such delays are diverse, ranging from complexities in evidence and cooperation issues to insufficient infrastructure and procedural challenges. Factors like delayed assistance from agencies involved in criminal cases also contribute to prolonged proceedings.
In a bid to show the government in a responsive light, the minister’s response also said that while the government doesn’t have direct control over case disposal, several initiatives have been implemented to expedite justice delivery. These include the National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms, schemes for judicial infrastructure development, and leveraging technology through the e-Courts Mission Mode Project. Efforts to increase judicial manpower, set up fast-track courts, amend laws, promote alternative dispute resolution methods, and facilitate legal advice through Tele-Law initiatives have been undertaken. The government did not study the impact on the common man and laid down the reasons by themselves without any proof as they come under the exclusive domain of the judiciary.
The key issue of quality of appointment of judges, especially on counts of independence and autonomy remains a blot, however.
On December 15, during the ongoing winter parliamentary session, several ministers including Rahul Kaswan (BJP), Guman Singh Damor (BJP), K. Jayakumar (Congress), Chandrani Murmu (Biju Janata Dal), Hanuman Beniwal (Rashtriya Loktantrik Party) and Abdul Khaleque (Congress) raised several questions regarding the disposal of the cases pending in courts. These questions were presented to Arjun Ram Meghwal.
As can be seen above, the number of pending cases as well as the cases disposed has increased from 2020 till December 2023. In 2020, 30.4% cases were disposed out of the pending ones, in 2021 we saw an increase in percentage equivalent to 36.3%, in 2022 we saw a sharp rise equal to 54.7% cases being disposed of out of the pending ones and in 2023, 63.8% cases has been disposed of thereby showing a positive increase throughout.
As can be seen from above, the highest number of pending and disposed of cases from 20-23 belonged to Allahabad Court. The lowest number of cases pending and disposed of from 2020-23 were in Sikkim High Court. The number of pending cases have risen from 7,73,408 in 2020 to 10,67,245 in 2023. There was a fall in the number of cases disposed of in 2022 to 2023 from 349919 to 251524.
We can understand that in 8 years from 2014 to 2022, there has been an 11.13% increase in the number of cases pending in the Supreme Court.
We notice from the table given above, that high courts including Andhra Pradesh, Calcutta, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, Orissa and Tripura have reduced the number of pending cases from 2014 to 2022, in 8 years. It is shocking to see that Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madras and Rajasthan have witnessed more than 100% increase in the number of cases pending during the last 8 years.
We can now understand that there are 19,575 cases pending in the Supreme Court for a duration between 5 to 20 years. There are more than 1 crore cases, 1,01,20,268 cases pending in the High Courts for a duration between 5 to 20 years.
Related:
69,768 cases are pending in Supreme Court end 2022 & 53, 51,284 in various High Courts: UoI
UAPA: 11.7% rise in cases pending trial, shows MHA data
Over 400 High Court judge posts vacant, 56 lakh pending cases: Law Ministry