India struggles with backlog of 48 million court cases

INDIA’S legal system would take 480 years to clear all outstanding court cases at its current rate of operation, with 48 million pending legal hearings, overcrowding jails.

About 75 per cent of India’s approximately five million inmates are awaiting trial – the highest number in the country in 25 years. The global average for those awaiting trial while in prison is about 20 per cent.

Nearly three in five inmates waiting for a hearing had been jailed for up to six months before trial, according to Indian government data from 2019, and there are reports of some accused dying before their cases are heard in court.

Staffing shortages across the Indian legal system are the major contributing factor. Many of the 24,000 approved positions for judicial officers on India’s lower courts are unfilled, according to NV Ramana, India’s chief justice.

“We have 20 judges per million population, which is highly inadequate to deal with the rising trend of litigation,” said Mr Ramana.

The pandemic has also contributed to the backlog. Between March 2020 and April 2022, the Supreme Court halted proceedings for all non-urgent cases, while many states postponed all nonessential hearings. Some are also accused of imposing legislation which unnecessarily criminalise citizens, leading to time-consuming court cases.

For example, in the northern state of Bihar where alcohol is banned, judges complain they are inundated with criminal cases involving residents consuming small amounts of liquor.

Human rights activists argue that politically motivated arrests have increased under the Bharatiya Janata Party, headed by prime minister Narendra Modi, leading to a greater caseload.

On Sunday, Mr Modi instructed the state governments to release prisoners waiting for trial and to devise methods to accelerate decisions on cases that had been pending for a long time.

“Sensitivity of people is linked to speedy justice and this should never be forgotten,” said Mr Modi.

“[In] every district there should be a committee headed by the district judge, to examine each of these cases and wherever possible release them on bail.”