Pending Cases in Indian Courts

The following is an estimate of the number of cases that are currently pending in India’s Supreme Court, High Courts, District Courts, and Subordinate Courts. Chief Justice Thakur of the Supreme Court bemoaned the “inaction” of the Executive Branch in increasing the number of judges from the current tally of 21,000 to 40,000. He accused the Center of doing nothing to improve the number of courts and judges in the nation, which he said was their responsibility. He stated that the Center had been delaying the appointment of judges to the High Court.

Reasons for the excessive backlog of cases in Indian courts

Case Law Still Under Consideration in Indian Courts

Every year, at least five crore cases are brought before the courts, but judges only resolve two crore of them. The following are the reasons:

1. An increased awareness of rights on the part of everyday people

Common people now have the confidence to seek justice through the legal system as a result of recent socioeconomic advancements and the resulting increased awareness of legal rights.

2. Brand new rights and brand new mechanisms (like the PIL, for example) (Eg: RTI)

Angry parties started knocking on the doors of justice in greater numbers as the government explicitly made legislation for new rights such as the “Right to Information” and the “Right to Education.” In addition, an active judiciary has given rise to new legal processes, such as public interest litigation, which has once again resulted in an increase in the number of cases.

3. There are insufficient numbers of judges.

There are insufficient judges to go around (only around 21,000). The current ratio of judges to population is 10 judges for every million people. The report that was compiled by the Law Commission in 1987 suggests a minimum of 50,000 to one million. Since 1987, there has been a greater than 25-crore increase in population.

The Center believes that the States ought to take the initiative in increasing the number of judges, whereas the States believe that the Center ought to take the initiative. As this game of tug-of-war continues, the strength of the judges does not change, and the litigants continue to be detained.

There is an opening for more than half of the positions. When it comes to the appointment of judges to various high courts and the Supreme Court, the Judicial Branch and the Executive Branch are at odds with one another.

4. There are not enough legal venues available.

The Indian judiciary suffers from a lack of available resources. When it comes to the judiciary, neither the Center nor the States are interested in increasing spending levels.

The allocations of financial resources for the entire judicial system amount to a pitiful 0.1 percent to 0.4 percent of the overall budget.

More courts and more bench space are required in India.

Not all the courts have adopted modern procedures and been equipped with computers.

5. There is an excessive amount of litigation coming from the government.

The Indian government is the most active litigant in the country and is responsible for almost half of the country’s open cases. Many of them are actually lawsuits filed by one government department against another, with the latter leaving the decision-making process up to the courts. Another thing to keep in mind is that the majority of the time, when the government files a case, it is observed that their side fails to prove their point.

6. The inferior courts’ lacklustre judicial performance

The Indian judicial system is a complete and utter failure when it comes to luring the brightest minds and most talented students.

Because the quality of judges in lower courts is not always up to mark, appeals against the decisions are filed against them in higher courts, which again increases the number of cases that are being heard.

There is a lack of specialisation among judges, which has led to them becoming less efficient and more lazy.

7. Outdated legal precedents or ambiguous drafting of legal precedents

There are a number of factors that contribute to prolonged litigation, including outdated laws that are contained within statute books, faulty or unclear drafting of laws, and the multiple ways in which different courts interpret those laws. Some of these statutes were written in the 1880s. Someone wants to do something, so someone else shows them a law that was written in the previous century and tells them not to do it.

More productive days

In 2014, Justice R.M. Lodha, who had previously served as Chief Justice of India, put forward a plan to make the Indian judiciary operate continuously throughout the year. This would replace the current system, which allows for lengthy vacations, particularly in the higher courts. The goal of this plan was to reduce the number of pending cases in Indian courts.

However, according to this proposal, there will not be any increase in the number of working days or working hours of the judges. Instead, it simply meant that different judges would go on holiday during different times of the year according to their own preferences.

However, the Bar Council of India did not accept this proposal, primarily due to the fact that it would have caused advocates, who are required to work throughout the year, additional difficulties.

Conclusion 

Colonial legacies such as paid long vacations continue to be a problem in a time when the number of available judges is low. As a result, appointed judges, particularly those in High Courts, are taking long vacations. The information that more than 4.70 crore cases are currently being processed by various courts across the country, including 70,154 by the Supreme Court, was presented to Lok Sabha on Friday.