Parliament Question: Review of the Pendency of Cases in Courts

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 939 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 24TH JULY, 2026 REVIEW OF THE PENDENCY OF CASES IN COURTS 939. DR. KIRSAN NAMDEO: Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has undertaken any review of the pendency of cases in various courts across the country, including High Courts and District Courts, if so, the details thereof, and if not, the reasons therefor; (b) the present status of implementation of digital judicial infrastructure under the e-Courts Project Phase-III; (c) the details of funds allocated and released under the project during the last three years, State/UT-wise; and (d) the steps taken by the Government to reduce judicial delays and improve access to justice through technology and judicial reforms? 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) to (d): Disposal of cases pending in various courts lies within the domain of the judiciary. However, the Government is fully committed to speedy disposal of cases and reducing pendency. 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 under the e-Courts Mission Mode Project, better infrastructure for courts, policy and legislative measures in the areas prone to excessive litigation. The Phase-III of the eCourts Project (2023-2027) was approved on 13.09.2023 with an outlay of Rs.7,210 crore. Phase III envisions a transition towards digital, paperless courts through large-scale digitisation of records, wider use of virtual hearings, interoperability across institutions and adoption of emerging technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI), analytics and Optical Character Recognition (OCR). The current status of progress made under eCourts Phase-III is as under: i. 2977 court complexes are equipped with bandwidth speed ranging from 10 Mbps to 100 Mbps. ii. 1.21 cr. cases have been filed through the e-filing platform. iii. The e-payments system has processed transactions for court-fee worth Rs. 1,594 crore and fine worth Rs. 97 crore.iv. Case Information System (CIS) 4.0 has been implemented in all courts, with enhanced privacy safeguards and integration with national platforms such as NJDG, e-filing, virtual courts and Interoperable Criminal Justice System (ICJS). v. More than 35.57 lakh FIRs and 38.36 lakh Chargesheet have been received by the courts (CIS 4.0) digitally from CCTNS. vi. The eSummons system has been introduced for electronic delivery of summons through email. vii. Through the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), litigants can access case information in respect of over 32.46 crore cases and over 39.79 crore orders/judgments. viii. The courts have conducted over 4.15 cr. hearings through video conferencing, facilitating remote hearings of undertrials, witnesses and lawyers. ix. Over 734 crore pages of court records including legacy records have been digitized across courts. x. To safely and permanently store court records, a robust digital vault “Judicial Digital Trustworthy Repository” has been developed. xi. The JustIS app (22,534 downloads) helps the judges to effectively organise and monitor judicial work. xii. 31 Virtual Courts have been established to enable online adjudication of traffic challans. xiii. 2,515 e-Sewa Kendras are functional across High Courts and District Courts to provide citizen centric services to lawyers and litigants. xiv. An AI based software tool called Legal Research Analysis Assistant [LegRAA] has been developed to aid judges in legal research and document analysis. xv. The S3WaaS platform hosts 730 Courts websites, ensuring secure and accessible web infrastructure. The details of funds released to various High Courts, as recommended by e-Committee, Supreme Court of India, under the eCourts Project during the last three years, are at Annexure. In addition, several steps taken by the Government to reduce judicial delays and improve access to justice through technology and judicial reforms are as under: i. Under the Centrally Sponsored Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) Scheme, for the expeditious disposal of pending cases of Rape and POCSO Act, 775 Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) including 398 exclusive POCSO (ePOCSO) Courts are functional across 29 States/UTs and have collectively disposed of 3,87,481 cases. ii. Arrears Committees have been set up in all 25 High Courts and the District Courts to clear cases pending for more than five years. iii. The Government has also enacted New Criminal Laws 2023, The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Act, 2018, The Commercial Courts (Amendment) Act, 2018, The Specific Relief (Amendment) Act, 2018 with a view to reduce pendency. iv. Alternate Dispute Resolution methods have also been promoted by the Government. v. 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. ****ANNEXURE STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (C) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 939 FOR ANSWER ON 24.07.2026 REGARDING ‘REVIEW OF THE PENDENCY OF CASES IN COURTS’ (Amount in crores) S. No. High Court FY 2023-24 FY 2024-25 FY 2025-26 Total Released Expenditure Released Expenditure Released Expenditure Total Total Released Expenditure 1 Allahabad 96.08 95.87 79.26 51.78 119.92 115.9 295.26 263.55 2 Andhra 45.28 25.44 35.1 31.74 18 17.8 98.38 74.98 Pradesh 3 Bombay 69.54 69.54 145.8 83.19 104.32 79.12 319.66 231.85 4 Calcutta 29.15 16.73 41.9 27.65 9.5 7.96 80.55 52.34 5 Chhattisgarh 20.22 16.27 32.57 24.17 49.74 49.23 102.53 89.67 6 Delhi 18.89 17.89 52.51 48.19 17.9 9.25 89.3 75.33 7 Gauhati 2.32 2.03 10.39 9.76 2.26 2 14.97 13.79 (Arunachal Pradesh) 8 Gauhati 25.5 24.97 34.69 33.85 3.65 3.64 63.84 62.46 (Assam) 9 Gauhati 3.5 3.12 9.98 6.22 2.48 2.05 15.96 11.39 (Mizoram) 10 Gauhati, 1.8 1.79 3.93 3.91 3.41 3.04 9.14 8.74 Kohima (Nagaland) 11 Gujarat 27.72 27.72 74.99 73.21 48.89 38.08 151.6 139.01 12 Himachal 6.13 6.06 6.9 6.89 7.63 6.86 20.66 19.81 Pradesh 13 J & K 15.37 6.52 21.98 14.53 14.48 13.33 51.83 34.38 14 Jharkhand 12.47 10.59 37.4 29.22 7.65 4.92 57.52 44.73 15 Karnataka 35.86 32.37 67.65 67.4 48.22 26.08 151.73 125.85 16 Kerala 15.63 15.4 42.49 32.62 51.6 13.28 109.72 61.3 17 Madhya 23.36 22.9 79.54 77.31 59.14 46.07 162.04 146.28 Pradesh 18 Madras 90.69 90.69 91.75 91.75 113.2 67.8 295.64 250.24 19 Manipur 11.21 11.12 7.68 7.54 2.16 2.02 21.05 20.68 20 Meghalaya 3.44 3.33 10.83 8.5 3.83 3.61 18.1 15.44 21 Orissa 9.79 6.77 58.48 53.24 16.09 14.12 84.36 74.13 22 Patna 32.89 32.43 119.16 89.55 57.61 2.47 209.66 124.45 23 Punjab A14n.d9 3 14.58 26.13 26.01 18.95 18.77 60.01 59.36 Haryana 24 Rajasthan 25.12 19.8 63.69 34.72 60.88 46.56 149.69 101.08 25 Sikkim 2.1 1.71 10.11 8.98 2.51 2.44 14.72 13.13 26 Telangana 22.79 22.03 34.83 28.57 29.44 12.42 87.06 63.02 27 Tripura 3.38 0.53 8.21 7.05 8.79 2.46 20.38 10.04 28 Uttarakhand 13.68 13.68 19.95 19.95 29.57 29.57 63.2 63.2 Total 678.86 611.88 1227.91 997.49 911.82 640.85 2818.59 2250.22