Parliament Question: Pendency in Courts

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1020 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 25TH JULY, 2025 PENDENCY IN COURTS 1020. SHRI MALVINDER SINGH KANG: Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state: (a) the number of current pending cases in the Supreme Court, High Courts and subordinate Courts; (b) the measures/initiatives taken by the Government to reduce pendency in courts; (c) the number of fast-track courts that are operational across the Country, State-wise; and (d) the details of funds that have been allocated and utilized under Centrally Sponsored Scheme for judicial infrastructure in the last two years, particularly in Punjab? 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): As per information available on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), the details of pending cases in the Supreme Court, High Courts and District & Subordinate Courts as on 21.07.2025 are as under: Sl. No. Name of Court Pending Cases 1. Supreme Court 86,742 2. High Courts 63,30,409 3. District and Subordinate Courts 4,65,27,906 1(b): The Government has taken several initiatives to provide an ecosystem for faster disposal of cases and reducing pendency in courts, as under: i. The National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms was set up in August, 2011, with the twin objectives of increasing access to justice by reducing delays in the system and enhancing accountability through structural changes and by setting performance standards and capacities. The Mission has been pursuing a coordinated approach for phased liquidation of arrears and pendency in judicial administration, which, inter-alia, involves better infrastructure for courts including computerization, increase in sanctioned strength of District and Subordinate Courts, policy and legislative measures in the areas prone to excessive litigation and re-engineering of court procedure for quick disposal of cases and emphasis on human resource development. ii. Under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for development of Judicial Infrastructure, funds are being released to States/UTs for construction of court halls, residential quarters for judicial officers, lawyers’ halls, toilet complexes and digital computer rooms that ease the life of various stakeholders including the litigants, thereby aiding justice delivery. As on 30.06.2025, Rs. 12,101.89 crores have been released since the inception of this Scheme in 1993-94. The number of court halls has increased from 15,818 (as on 30.06.2014) to 22,372 (as on 30.06.2025) and the number of residential units has increased from 10,211 (as on 30.06.2014) to 19,851 (as on 30.06.2025), under this Scheme. iii. Under Phase I and II of the e-Courts Mission Mode Project, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) was leveraged for IT enablement of District and Subordinate Courts and 18,735 District and Subordinate Courts were computerized till 2023. WAN connectivity was provided to 2977 sites. Video Conferencing facility was enabled between 3,240 court complexes and 1,272 corresponding jails. 778 eSewa Kendras (facilitation centres) were established to bridge the digital divide by providing citizen centric services to lawyers and litigants. 21 virtual courts were set up in 17 States/UTs, which handled more than 2.78 crore cases and realized more than Rs. 384.14 crores in fines up to March 2023. 2The Phase-III of the eCourts Project (2023-2027) was approved on 13.09.2023 with an outlay of Rs.7,210 crore, which is aimed at ushering a regime of enhanced ease of justice by moving towards digital, online and paperless courts. It intends to incorporate latest technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make justice delivery progressively more robust, easy and accessible. Till date, 506.05 crores pages of court records have been digitized in the High Courts and District Courts. More than 3.65 crore hearings have taken place through Video conferencing and live streaming is functional in 11 High Courts. The number of eSewa Kendras (facilitation centres) has increased to 1814 across High Courts and District Courts. Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning tools are being used in case management hearing and for transcription of oral judgements in the Supreme Court of India. iv. The Government has been filling up vacancies of Judges in the Supreme Court of India and the High Courts from time to time. From 01.05.2014 to 21.07.2025, 70 Judges have been appointed in the Supreme Court. 1058 new Judges were appointed and 794 Additional Judges were made permanent in the High Courts during the same period. The sanctioned strength of Judges of the High Courts has increased from 906 in May, 2014 to 1122 till date. The sanctioned and working strengths of judicial officers in District and Subordinate Courts have increased as under: As on Sanctioned Strength Working Strength 31.12.2013 19,518 15,115 21.07.2025 25,843 21,122 Source: MIS Portal of the Department of Justice However, filling up of vacancies in District and Subordinate judiciary falls within the domain of the State/UT Governments and High Courts concerned. v. In pursuance of a Resolution passed in Chief Justices’ Conference held in April, 2015, Arrears Committees have been set up in all 25 High Courts to clear cases pending for more than five years. Arrears Committees have now been set up under District Courts as well. 3vi. Under the aegis of the Fourteenth Finance Commission, the Fast Track Courts have been established for dealing with cases of heinous crimes, cases involving senior citizens, women, children, etc. As on 30.06.2025, 865 Fast Track Courts are functional across the country. With a view to fast-track criminal cases involving elected MPs / MLAs, ten (10) Special Courts are functional in nine (9) States/UTs. Further, the Central Government had approved a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for setting up Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) across the country, for the expeditious disposal of pending cases of Rape and POCSO Act. As on 30.06.2025, 725 FTSCs including 392 exclusive POCSO (ePOCSO) Courts are functional in 29 States/UTs, which have disposed of more than 3,34,000 cases since their inception. vii. With a view to reduce pendency and unclogging of the courts, the Government has amended various laws like The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Act, 2018, The Commercial Courts (Amendment) Act, 2018, The Specific Relief (Amendment) Act, 2018, The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2019 and The Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2018. viii. Alternate Dispute Resolution methods have been progressively promoted. Accordingly, The Commercial Courts Act, 2015 was amended in August, 2018 making Pre-institution Mediation and Settlement (PIMS) mandatory in case of commercial disputes. In order to further enhance the efficiency of the PIMS mechanism, the Government, through The Mediation Act, 2023, has further amended the Commercial Court Act, 2015. The amendments to The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 have been made in the years 2015, 2019 and 2021 for expediting the speedy resolution of disputes. Under The Commercial Courts Act, 2015, there is a provision for case management hearing, which provides for an efficient, effective and purposeful judicial management of a case so as to achieve a timely and qualitative resolution of a dispute. It assists in early identification of disputed issues of facts and law, establishment of procedural calendar for the life of the case and the exploration of possibilities of the resolution of the dispute. 4Another novel feature introduced for the commercial courts is the system of color banding, which limits the number of adjournments that can be granted in any commercial matter to three and alerts the judges about listing of the cases in accordance with their stage of pendency. ix. Lok Adalat is an important Alternative Disputes Resolution Mechanism available to common people, where the disputes/ cases pending in the court of law or at pre-litigation stage are settled/ compromised amicably. Under The Legal Services Authorities (LSA) Act, 1987, an award made by a Lok Adalat is deemed to be a decree of a civil court and is final and binding on all parties and no appeal lies against it before any court. National Lok Adalats are organized simultaneously in all Taluks, Districts and High Courts on a pre-fixed date. The details of the cases disposed of in National Lok Adalats during the last four years are as under: - Years Pre-litigation Cases Pending Grand Cases Total 2021 72,06,294 55,81,743 1,27,88,037 2022 3,10,15,215 1,09,10,795 4,19,26,010 2023 7,10,32,980 1,43,09,237 8,53,42,217 2024 8,70,19,059 1,75,07,060 10,45,26,119 2025 (up to 2,58,28,368 50,82,181 3,09,10,549 March) Total 22,21,01,916 5,33,91,016 27,54,92,932 x. The Government launched the Tele-Law programme in 2017, which provides an effective and reliable e-interface platform connecting the needy and disadvantaged sections seeking legal advice and consultation with panel lawyers via video conferencing, telephone and chat facilities available at the Common Service Centres (CSCs) situated in Gram Panchayats and through Tele-Law mobile App. 5*Percentage-wise break-up of Tele – Law Data Till 30th June, Cases % wise Break Advice % wise Break 2025 Registered Up Enabled Up Gender -wise Female 44,81,170 39.58% 44,21,450 39.55% Male 68,39,728 60.42% 67,58,085 60.45% Caste Category-wise General 26,89,371 23.76% 26,48,100 23.69% OBC 35,64,430 31.49% 35,16,236 31.45% SC 35,27,303 31.16% 34,90,737 31.22% ST 15,39,794 13.60% 15,24,462 13.64% Total 1,13,20,898 1,11,79,535 xi. Efforts have been made to institutionalize pro bono culture and pro bono lawyering in the country. A technological framework has been put in place where advocates volunteering to give their time and services for pro bono work can register as Pro Bono Advocates on Nyaya Bandhu (Android & iOS and Apps). Nyaya Bandhu Services are also available on UMANG Platform. Pro Bono Panel of advocates has been initiated in 23 High Courts at the State/UT level. Pro Bono Clubs have been started in 109 Law Schools to instill Pro Bono culture in budding lawyers. (c): As per information received from the High Courts, 865 Fast Track Courts (FTCs) are functional across 21 State/UT’s with pendency of 14,38,198 cases as on 30.06.2025. State/UT-wise details are at Annexure-I. In addition to the above, pursuant to the enactment of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 and in compliance with the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Suo Motu Writ (Criminal) No. 1/2019, the Central Government has been implementing since October, 2019 a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for the establishment of Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs), including exclusive POCSO (e-POCSO) Courts. These courts are dedicated to the time-bound trial and disposal of pending cases related to rape and offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. As per data provided by the High Courts, 725 FTSCs, including 392 exclusive POCSO Courts, are functional across 29 States/UTs as on 30.06.2025. Since the inception of the Scheme, these courts have collectively disposed of 63,34,213 cases, while 2,00,349 cases are currently pending. The State/UT-wise details are at Annexure-II. (d): The details of funds, allocated and utilized under Centrally Sponsored Scheme for judicial infrastructure in the last two years, particularly in Punjab are as under: (Rs. in Crore) Total funds allocated and utilized in last two years. Financial Year Funds allocated Funds Utilized 2023-24 1051 1060.17 2024-25 1123.40 1123.40 2025-26 998 50.48 (as on 30.06.2025) Funds allocated and utilized for Punjab in last two years Financial Year Funds allocated Funds Utilized 2023-24 47.28 18.42 2024-25* 46.88 0.00 2025-26* 49.25 0.00 (as on 30.06.2025) * Funds could not be released as State had more than permissible unspent balance of funds in their Single Nodal Agency (SNA) account and was not eligible for fresh grant of central funds. ******* 7ANNEXURE-I STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (C) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1020 FOR ANSWER ON 25.07.2025 REGARDING ‘PENDENCY IN COURTS’. State/UT-wise Details of functional Fast Track Court (FTCs) as on 30.06.2025 Sl. Number of Name of States/UTs Pendency No. Functional FTCs 1 Andhra Pradesh 21 6915 2 Andaman & Nicobar island 0 0 3 Arunachal Pradesh 0 0 4 Assam 16 13713 5 Bihar 0 0 6 Chandigarh 0 0 7 Chhattisgarh 27 5816 8 Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu 0 0 9 Delhi 26 6625 10 Goa 4 1349 11 Gujarat 54 5316 12 Haryana 6 774 13 Himachal Pradesh 3 332 14 Jammu & Kashmir 8 1423 15 Jharkhand 41 9110 16 Karnataka 0 0 17 Kerala 0 0 18 Ladakh 0 0 19 Lakshadweep 0 0 20 Madhya Pradesh 0 0 21 Maharashtra 102 153896 22 Manipur 6 199 23 Meghalaya 0 0 24 Mizoram 2 259 25 Nagaland 0 0 26 Odisha 0 0 27 Puducherry 1 4458 28 Punjab 7 152 29 Rajasthan 0 0 30 Sikkim 2 17 31 Tamil Nadu 72 80244 32 Telangana 0 0 33 Tripura 2 1049 34 Uttar Pradesh 373 1057849 35 Uttarakhand 4 1103 36 West Bengal 88 87599 TOTAL 865 1438198 8ANNEXURE-II STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (C) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1020 FOR ANSWER ON 25.07.2025 REGARDING ‘PENDENCY IN COURTS’. Functional Courts FTSCs Sl. No. Name of States/UTs Pendency including Exclusive Exclusive POCSO Courts POCSO Courts 1 Andhra Pradesh 16 16 6303 2 Assam 17 17 6435 3 Bihar 46 46 18459 4 Chandigarh 1 0 214 5 Chhattisgarh 15 11 1739 6 Delhi 16 11 3560 7 Goa 1 0 155 8 Gujarat 35 24 5315 9 Haryana 18 14 4420 10 Himachal Pradesh 6 3 643 11 J&K 4 2 497 12 Karnataka 30 17 5220 13 Kerala 55 14 6292 14 Madhya Pradesh 67 56 10713 15 Maharashtra 2 1 290 16 Manipur 2 0 49 17 Meghalaya 5 5 1097 18 Mizoram 3 1 75 19 Nagaland 1 0 59 20 Odisha 44 23 9065 21 Puducherry 1 1 218 22 Punjab 12 3 1451 23 Rajasthan 45 30 4892 24 Tamil Nadu 14 14 5234 25 Telangana 36 0 8782 26 Tripura 3 1 224 27 Uttarakhand 4 0 1094 28 Uttar Pradesh 218 74 92700 29 West Bengal 8 8 5154 30 Jharkhand * 0 0 0 31 A&N Islands** 0 0 0 32 Arunachal Pradesh*** 0 0 0 Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman 33 0 0 0 & Diu 34 Ladakh 0 0 0 35 Lakshadweep 0 0 0 36 Sikkim 0 0 0 TOTAL 725 392 200349 Note: At the inception of the Scheme, the allocation of FTSCs across the country was based on a criterion of 65 to 165 pending cases per court, meaning one FTSC would be established for every 65 to 165 pending cases. Based on that, only 31 States/UTs were eligible to join the Scheme. * The State of Jharkhand has decided to exit the FTSCs Scheme vide letter dated 07.07.2025. ** A&N islands has consented to join the Scheme, but is yet to operationalize any court. ***Arunachal Pradesh has opted out of the Scheme citing a very low number of pending cases of Rape and POCSO Act. 910