2.68 crore cases pending in lower courts: Government

NEW DELHI: A total of 2.68 crore cases were pending in district and subordinate courts in the country and 44.56 lakh cases were pending in high courts, Rajya Sabha was informed today.

Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said, of the 2.68 crore cases which were pending in lower courts at the end of 2013, 59.80 lakh cases were pending for more than five years.

In high courts, as on December 31, 2013, out of the 44.56 lakh cases, 16.83 lakh cases were pending for more than five years till last year.

As per the information made available, 11,861 cases were pending for more than five years as on December 10, 2014 in the Supreme Court, he said in reply to a written question.

A total of 1,321 bail applications are pending in the Supreme Court for the last three years as on December 15, 2014, he said.

Replying to another question, Gowda said as per information available in Court News, a quarterly newsletter of the Supreme Court, the sanctioned and working strength of judicial officers of district and subordinate courts were 19,518 and 15,115 respectively as on December 31, 2013 and 4,403 posts of judicial officers of district and subordinate courts were vacant as on December 31, 2013.

The sanctioned and working strength of judges of various high courts were 984 and 631 respectively and 353 posts were vacant as on December 15, 2014, he said.

In the first national lok adalat which was held on November 23, 2014, about 72,10,300 cases were settled and 50,87,394 cases were pending in various courts, the law minister said.

Gowda said while there is no proposal to bring a legislation on time-bound disposal of court cases, government has taken major initiatives for reduction in the number of pending cases.

The number of district and subordinate courts has increased from 16,949 in 2010 to 19,518 in 2013.

The central government has provided financial assistance to the tune of Rs 2,198 crore to the state governments and UTs for upgradation/construction of court complexes and residential units for judicial officers in the last three years. Under the e-Courts project, 13,323 courts have been computerised by October 31, 2014, he said.