Parliament Question: Pendency of cases and judicial infrastructure in Patna

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 762 ANSWERED ON 05/02/2026 PENDENCY OF CASES AND JUDICIAL INFRASTRUCTURE IN PATNA

762. SHRI AKHILESH PRASAD SINGH:

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

(a) whether courts in Patna are witnessing high pendency of civil and criminal cases affecting the timely delivery of justice;

(b) the sanctioned strength versus the working strength of judges in district and subordinate courts there;

(c) whether shortages of courtrooms, support staff and digital infrastructure have been identified; and

(d) the steps taken to strengthen judicial infrastructure, fill vacancies and promote speedy disposal of cases in the State capital? 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): Pendency of cases in courts arise due to several factors which inter alia, include complexity of the facts involved, nature of evidence, co-operation of stakeholders, viz., bar, investigation agencies, witness and litigants, besides the availability of physical infrastructure, supporting court staff, etc. As per the information available on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), the details of pending cases in the Patna High Court and the District Court, Patna as on 02.02.2026 are as under:

Sl. No. Name of Court Pending cases Civil Criminal

1. Patna High Court 1,13,813 1,04,781

2. District Court, Patna 49,055 4,18,901

(b): As per the extant provisions under Article(s) 227 and 235 of the Constitution of India, the power of superintendence and control over all district courts and courts subordinate thereto under its jurisdictionis vested in the respective High Courts.The sanctioned strength versus the working strength of judges in district and subordinate courts is not centrally maintained.

(c) & (d): The primary responsibility for development of infrastructure facilities for District & Subordinate Judiciary rests with the State Governments/UTs. However, to augment the resources of the State Government/UTs, the Central Government has been implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme

(CSS) for the Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary in the District & Subordinate Courts since 1993-94. The Scheme covers five components, viz. Court Halls, Residential Units for Judicial Officers, Lawyers’ Halls, Toilet Complexes and Digital Computer Rooms for the convenience of lawyers and litigants. As on 31.12.2025, total Central assistance of Rs. 643.68 crore has been provided to the State of Bihar since inception of the Scheme.

As per information received from Patna High Court, at present, working strength of Judicial Officers in the Patna Judgeship is 183 and 167 Court rooms are available thereat. Further, in Patna Judgeship, the support staff manpower strength is 1288 and availability of manpower is 663. Civil Court, Patna and Sub-Divisional court of Patna has been equipped with the Computer hardware under Phase-II and Phase-III of e-Courts project.

Filling up of vacant positions of the judicial officers in District and Subordinatecourts is the responsibility of the High Courts and State Governments concerned. As per the Constitutional framework, in exercise of powers conferred under the proviso to Article 309 read with Articles 233 and 234 of the Constitution, the respective State Government, in consultation with the High Court, frames the rules and regulations regarding the appointment and recruitment of Judicial Officers.The Hon’ble Supreme Court vide order passed in January 2007 in the Malik Mazhar Sultan case, has inter alia stipulated certain timelines, which are to be followed by the States and the respective High Courts for recruitment of judges in District and Subordinate Courts. Vacancies of Clerk, Stenographer, Deposition Writer-cum-Clerk-cum-Typist and Peon/orderly have been filled in all the Judgeships of Bihar vide Employment Notice No. 01/2022, 02/2022, 03/2022 and 04/2022 respectively.

Disposal of cases pending in various courts lies within the domain of the judiciary. No fixed time frame has been prescribed for disposal of various kinds of cases by the respective courts.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 involved, nature of evidence, co-operation of stake holders viz bar, investigation agencies, witnesses, litigants and proper application of rules and procedures. 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, involves better infrastructure for courts including computerization, increase in strength of subordinate judiciary, policy and legislative measures in the areas prone to excessive litigation, re-engineering of court procedure for quick disposal of cases and emphasis on human resource development.

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