Parliament Question: Guidelines for disposal of pending cases

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4447 ANSWERED ON - 02/04/2026 GUIDELINES FOR DISPOSAL OF PENDING CASES

4447. # SMT. DARSHANA SINGH:

Will the Minister of Law and Justice be pleased to state:

(a) whether there are any guidelines issued by Government for disposal of cases pending for ten years and if so, the details thereof;

(b) the current number of such cases, State-wise;

(c) whether Artificial Intelligence (AI) or other technological tools are being utilized to reduce the burden of pending cases in courts; and

(d) if so, the details of steps taken in this regard and the impact thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE; AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL)

(a) and (b): Disposal of cases is within the exclusive domain of the judiciary. As such no guidelines have been issued by the Government for disposal of cases pending for ten years.

However, the Government is fully committed for speedy disposal of cases and reducing pendency as mandated under Article 21 of the Constitution. The Government has taken several initiatives to provide an ecosystem for faster disposal of cases by the judiciary which, inter- alia, includes amalgamation of latest technologies for increasing access to justice and greater transparency under the e-Courts Mission Mode Project and supplementing of the resources of the State Governments/UTs for providing suitable infrastructure facilities for the District and Subordinate Judiciary under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary.

The current number of cases, pending for ten years, is at Annexure .

(c) and (d): Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being utilized to reduce the burden of pending cases in courts and improve efficiency in the criminal justice system. The Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) project, based on the principle of ‘one data one entry’, aims to achieve seamless information exchange across all the pillars of criminal justice system and digitally link the databases of police (CCTNS), e-Courts, e-Prisons and e-Prosecution and e-Forensics.

Data between the Case Information System (CIS) under e-Courts and other pillars of ICJS are shared within the ambit of data sharing matrix approved by the eCommittee of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.

1As part of the National e-Governance Plan, Phase-III of the eCourts Mission Mode project is under implementation for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) enablement of courts and to enhance the judicial productivity, both qualitatively & quantitatively, making the justice delivery system accessible, cost effective, reliable and transparent. Under this project, Rs. 53.57 crore have been earmarked for the component “Future Technological Advancements” to integrate modern technologies for smoother user experience.

To explore the use of AI in judicial domain, the Supreme Court of India constituted an AI Committee, which is responsible for conceptualizing, implementing and monitoring use of AI in the judiciary. However, no formal policy or guidelines exist for adopting AI tools in judicial processes, as AI-based solutions remain in the controlled pilot phase and authorities use AI only within the areas approved in the DPR of eCourts Phase III. Besides, formulation and regulation of operational frameworks in this regard will be governed by the rules of business and policies of the concerned High Courts.

The Supreme Court of India in collaboration with IIT Madras is testing the prototypes of AI and ML tools for curing document defects, meta data extraction and integration with the electronic filing module and the case management software, namely Integrated Case Management & Information System (ICMIS). An AI based tool called Legal Research Analysis Assistant [LegRAA] has been developed to aid judges in legal research and document analysis.

Another AI based tool called Digital Courts 2.1 has been developed to assist Judges and Judicial Officers in managing the court in paperless manner by providing a single window for all case- related information and tasks. The platform includes voice-to-text (ASR-SHRUTI) and translation (PANINI) functionalities to assist the judges with order and judgment dictation.

The Digital Justice System under the e-Courts Mission Mode Project has expedited and simplified judicial processes and has also improved transparency and accessibility in the justice delivery system. Further, the Digital Courts platform enables judges to access all case-related documents, pleadings and evidence digitally, marking a significant leap toward a paperless court ecosystem.

**** 2ANNEXURE STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (B) OF RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4447 FOR ANSWER ON 02.04.2026 REGARDING ‘GUIDELINES FOR DISPOSAL OF PENDING CASES’ Number of cases pending for 10 years, in District & Subordinate Courts, state-wise, as on

27.03.2026 Sr. No State/UTs No. of cases pending for more than 10 years 1 Andaman and Nicobar 1,732 2 Andhra Pradesh 17,135 3 Arunachal Pradesh 1,630 4 Assam 10,331 5 Bihar 8,62,219 6 Chandigarh 412 7 Chhattisgarh 1,166 8 Delhi 40,972 9 Goa 4,254 10 Gujarat 60,529 11 Haryana 4,704 12 Himachal Pradesh 10,024 13 Jammu and Kashmir 20,137 14 Jharkhand 43,436 15 Karnataka 95,504 16 Kerala 43,589 17 Ladakh 10 18 Lakshadweep 26 19 Madhya Pradesh 31,796 20 Maharashtra 5,29,517 21 Manipur 764 22 Meghalaya 2,372 23 Mizoram 30 24 Nagaland 277 25 Odisha 2,95,382 26 Puducherry 2,479 27 Punjab 3,677 28 Rajasthan 75,966 29 Sikkim 3 30 Tamil Nadu 65,026 31 Telangana 19,148 32 The Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu 373 33 Tripura 711 34 Uttar Pradesh 22,37,931 35 Uttarakhand 6,882 36 West Bengal 7,66,149 Total 52,56,293

Source: National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) 3