10,000 cases pending in SC for 10 yrs, 80,000 in HCs for 30 yrs
Despite significant government investment in judicial infrastructure, tens of thousands of cases remain pending in Indian courts for decades. The Law Minister has attributed these delays to judicial vacancies and procedural inefficiencies within the court system.
Why it matters
The backlog of cases highlights a critical bottleneck in the Indian justice system that affects millions of litigants.
NEW DELHI: Improving court infrastructure and integration of technology in the justice delivery system with an outlay of more than Rs 9,800 crore since 2011 have had little impact on disposal of cases pending for several decades. More than 10,000 cases are pending in the Supreme Court for over 10 years — including 558 pending for over 20 years, and 26 cases for 30 years. In the 25 high courts across the country, over 80,000 cases are pending for over three decades.In a written response to a question in Parliament last week, law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal put the onus of disposal of cases on the judiciary, which has not fixed a time frame for their disposal.He further said: “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…
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