Over 4 Crore Cases Pending Before District Courts Across Country, About 59 Lakh In High Courts, 70K In Supreme Court: Law Ministry

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju stated that timely disposal of cases in courts depends on several factors which, inter-alia, include availability of adequate number of judges and judicial officers, supporting court staff and physical infrastructure, complexity of facts involved, nature of evidence, co-operation of stakeholders viz. bar, investigation agencies, witnesses and litigants and proper application of rules and procedures. He added that there are several factors which may lead to delay in disposal of cases, which, inter-alia, include vacancies of judges, frequent adjournments and lack of adequate arrangement to monitor, track and bunch cases for hearing.

It was also informed by the Law Minister that 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, he added.

The aforesaid information was provided by the Minister in response to the question raised by MPs T.R.V.S. Ramesh, Rajendra Agrawal, Jagdambika Pal and P.P. Chaudhary that whether the number of cases pending in various courts is increasing and if so, the reasons therefor indicating the number of pending cases during the last three years in Supreme Court, High Courts and subordinate courts.

Further, the Law Minister mentioned that the National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms was set up in August, 2011 with the twin objectives of increasing access by reducing delays and arrears in the system and enhancing accountability through structural changes and by setting performance standards and capacities. He added that the Mission has been pursuing a co-ordinated approach for phased liquidation of arrears and pendency in judicial administration, which, inter-alia, involves better infrastructure for courts including computerization, increase in strength of subordinate judiciary, policy and legislative measures in the areas prone to excessive litigation, re-engineering of court procedure for quick disposal of cases and emphasis on human resource development.

In response to the question regarding the average time taken by High Courts for the disposal of various civil cases, State/UT-wise particularly in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, the Law Minister answered that the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) maintain data relating to pendency, disposal of cases in High Courts and District and Taluka Courts. NJDG does not maintain data on average time taken for disposal of cases in courts, he added.

The MPs. also raised following questions:

"(c) whether the Government has proposed or conducting any study to introduce the use of Artificial Intelligence in judiciary; and

(d) if so, the details thereof along with its use in Fast Track Courts for quick justice delivery?"

In this regard, it was stated that a Committee on Artificial Intelligence has been constituted by the Supreme Court of India which is presently chaired by Justice L. Nageswara Rao, Judge, Supreme Court of India to look into all matters related to use of Artificial Technology in the entire Court eco-system.

Click Here To Read/Download Unstarred Question And Answer