Parliament Question: Pendency of cases in higher judiciary

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3153 ANSWERED ON – 19/03/2026 PENDENCY OF CASES IN HIGHER JUDICIARY 3153 SHRI A. A. RAHIM: Will the Minister of Law and Justice be pleased to state: (a) the number of pending cases in the Supreme Court and each High Court as on date, during the last five years, year-wise; (b) the number of civil and criminal cases pending separately in each of these courts; (c) whether the Ministry has identified specific reasons for the rise in judicial pendency, including vacancies of judges; and (d) the measures being taken to reduce pendency and ensure timely disposal of cases in the higher judiciary? ANSWER THE 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): The number of pending cases in the Supreme Court and each High Court as on 09.03.2026, during the last five years, year-wise is at Annexure I. (b): The number of civil and criminal cases pending in Supreme Court and High Courts, as on 09.03.2026, is at Annexure-II. (c) & (d): Pendency of cases in courts arise due to several factors besides availability of adequate number of Judges and Judicial officers. These 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. 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.Filling up of the vacancy in the higher Judiciary is a continuous, integrated and collaborative process between the executive and the judiciary. It requires consultation and approval from various Constitutional Authorities both at State and Central level which are obtained in accordance with the MoP. The recommendations also have to be considered in the light of such other reports as may be available to the Government in respect of the names under consideration. The recommendations of the High Court Collegium, the State Governments and the Government of India are then forwarded to the Supreme Court Collegium (SCC) for advice. Only those persons whose names have been recommended by the SCC are appointed as Judges of the High Courts. 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 28.02.2026, 72 Judges have been appointed in the Supreme Court. 1164 new Judges were appointed and 820 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. ****ANNEXURE-I STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (A) OF RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3153 FOR ANSWER ON 19.03.2026 REGARDING ‘PENDENCY OF CASES IN HIGHER JUDICIARY’ Number of cases pending in the Supreme Court and each High Court, during the last five years, year-wise As on 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 09.03.2026 Supreme Court 70,239 78,797 80,674 82,496 92,101 92,755 Sr No. High Court 1 Allahabad High Court 10,24,931 10,34,695 10,66,874 11,39,915 12,18,984 11,93,346 2 Bombay High Court 5,91,536 6,36,907 6,67,961 6,95,578 6,64,979 6,62,050 3 Calcutta High Court 2,29,563 2,14,903 2,01,489 2,03,782 2,05,591 204633 4 Gauhati High Court 55,281 57,977 60,471 61,685 63,886 64,509 High Court for State 5 of Telangana 2,40,314 2,37,872 2,31,980 2,30,343 2,33,834 2,36,507 High Court of Andhra 6 Pradesh 2,22,637 2,40,375 2,47,901 2,45,735 2,49,088 2,48,859 High Court Of 7 Chhattisgarh 81,613 91,714 90,518 84,629 76,337 75,351 8 High Court of Delhi 1,02,025 1,06,050 1,13,368 1,18,662 1,24,951 1,25,962 9 High Court of Gujarat 1,54,698 1,61,422 1,67,273 1,71,238 1,75,605 1,74,540 High Court of 10 Himachal Pradesh 76,218 82,660 88,326 93,881 1,02,361 1,04,118 High Court of Jammu 11 and Kashmir 47,371 43,575 42,934 43,296 43,039 43,190 High Court of 12 Jharkhand 88,721 87,904 85,736 74,353 72,192 73,159 High Court of 13 Karnataka 2,49,451 2,67,541 2,84,694 2,98,662 3,28,599 3,31,109 14 High Court of Kerala 2,28,019 2,41,902 2,54,878 2,51,150 2,50,602 2,47,718 High Court of Madhya 15 Pradesh 4,11,909 4,33,447 4,49,347 4,66,125 4,80,537 4,78,761 High Court of 16 Manipur 4,230 4,254 4,663 5,282 5,793 6,031 High Court of 17 Meghalaya 1,581 1,183 1,124 1,252 1,739 1,783 High Court of Punjab 18 and Haryana 4,52,548 4,49,860 4,44,200 4,34,641 4,23,466 4,21,054 High Court Of 19 Rajasthan 5,42,658 5,93,601 6,00,434 6,16,341 6,82,725 6,71,842 20 High Court of Sikkim 180 164 180 207 272 296 21 High Court of Tripura 1,771 1,616 1,280 1,056 1,429 1,389 High Court of 22 Uttarakhand 41,463 45,100 50,399 55,629 59,682 60,827 23 Madras High Court 5,99,825 5,86,964 5,74,292 5,59,584 5,46,285 5,53,144 24 Orissa High Court 1,93,123 1,59,578 1,46,540 1,45,205 1,58,915 1,63,527 25 Patna High Court 2,26,757 2,12,870 1,97,465 2,02,249 2,19,639 2,17,635 Total 58,68,423 59,94,134 60,74,327 62,00,480 63,90,530 63,61,340 Source: National Judicial Data GridANNEXURE-II STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (B) OF RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3153 FOR ANSWER ON 19.03.2026 REGARDING ‘PENDENCY OF CASES IN HIGHER JUDICIARY’ No. of civil and criminal cases pending in Supreme Court of India and High Courts Civil Criminal Total Supreme Court of India 73,056 19,699 92,755 S. No. Name of High Court 1 Allahabad High Court 6,17,265 5,76,081 11,93,346 2 Bombay High Court 5,46,634 1,15,416 6,62,050 3 Calcutta High Court 172454 32179 204633 4 Gauhati High Court 47,555 16,954 64,509 5 High Court for State of Telangana 2,04,131 32,376 2,36,507 6 High Court of Andhra Pradesh 2,06,581 42,278 2,48,859 7 High Court Of Chhattisgarh 52,888 22,463 75,351 8 High Court of Delhi 93,069 32,893 1,25,962 9 High Court of Gujarat 1,16,691 57,849 1,74,540 10 High Court of Himachal Pradesh 90,576 13,542 1,04,118 11 High Court of Jammu and Kashmir 33,869 9,321 43,190 12 High Court of Jharkhand 32,269 40,890 73,159 13 High Court of Karnataka 2,74,093 57,016 3,31,109 14 High Court of Kerala 2,00,587 47,131 2,47,718 15 High Court of Madhya Pradesh 2,83,994 1,94,767 4,78,761 16 High Court of Manipur 51,40 891 6,031 17 High Court of Meghalaya 1,351 432 1,783 18 High Court of Punjab and Haryana 2,55,401 1,65,653 4,21,054 19 High Court of Rajasthan 4,79,427 1,92,415 6,71,842 20 High Court of Sikkim 208 88 296 21 High Court of Tripura 1,106 283 1,389 22 High Court of Uttarakhand 33,735 27,092 60,827 23 Madras High Court 4,77,589 75,555 5,53,144 24 Orissa High Court 1,22,040 41,487 1,63,527 25 Patna High Court 1,14,535 1,03,100 2,17,635 Total 44,63,188 18,98,152 63,61,340 Source: National Judicial Data Grid