28m cases pending in district courts

Judicial manpower needs a sevenfold increase, reports say

Awhopping 28 million cases are pending in district courts across the country that are short of nearly 5,000 judicial officers.

The situation has led to suggestions in two Supreme Court reports to increase the judicial manpower “manifold” — at least seven times — to overcome the crisis, by appointing about 15,000 more judges in the coming few years.

The suggestions and some sharp remarks came out in two reports issued by the Supreme Court — Indian Judiciary Annual Report 2015-2016 and Subordinate Courts of India: A Report on Access to Justice 2016

Data showed that district courts across the country were grappling with a backlog of 2,81,25,066 civil and criminal cases in the period between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016.

However, 1,89,04,222 cases were also resolved during the period.

One of the key reasons for the huge figure of pending litigation is the shortage of judges in subordinate courts, which is “a cause of concern”, as there are 4,954 judges’ posts vacant — the sanctioned strength of judicial officers is 21,324 — the report on subordinate courts said.

Shortfall

“Based on the study and keeping in mind the future growth in institution of cases, it is found that the present judge strength is insufficient to deal with a huge figure of pendency of cases, which is a cause of concern.

“Additional judicial manpower and support staff, as well as infrastructure, is required immediately to handle the situation,” the report said.

In the backdrop of the tussle between the judiciary and the executive over appointments of judges and infrastructure, the report had sharp comments over the government’s ineptitude to deal with the issue.

“The immediate requirement itself shows that enough has not been done to increase the judges strength of the subordinate judiciary.”