Mounting Judicial Pendencies And Arrears : Is There A Way Ahead ?

Mounting judicial arrears and pendencies in India  is biggest issue before the Judiciary today. There are more than five crore cases pending before different levels of judiciary. There is well known maxim “justice delayed justice denied”. Delayed justice is no remedy at all. Many of citizens are waiting for justice for decade after decade. Many of litigants have died waiting of justice and are legal heir of such litigants are being impleaded.

The Supreme Court has itself recognized speedy justice as part of Fundamental Rights. The Supreme Court has held in Hussainara Khatoon Vs. Home Secretary, State of Bihar (1979 SCR (3) 169  that though speedy trial is not specifically enumerated as a fundamental right, it is included in broad sweep and content of Article 21 as interpreted by this Court.

Declaration of right to speedy justice as Fundamental Rights has no meaning as long as it is not implemented on the ground and justice is delivered to citizens promptly within reasonable time.

Causes Of Pendency Of Cases

There are various reasons for increasing arrears of cases which need to be addressed.

Insufficient Number Of  Judges

Indian Population have increased to around 140 crore. Due of increasing level of literacy more and more people are approaching courts for adjudication of disputes. Judicial system has not sufficient number of judges to handle litigations. The judges to population ratio are very poor. There is immediate need for increasing number of judges at both District Level, High Courts and the Supreme Court.

Non-filling Of  Existing Vacancies

Even existing vacancies at District Level, High Court Level and Supreme Court level are not being filled timely. There is no annual recruitment of judges at District Level. The recruitment of judges at High Court level and Supreme Court level are done by Collegium and are very complex.  Various stakeholders are involved in the recruitment, which lead to inordinate delay in recruitment.

Poor Infrastructure

There are poor infrastructure particularly at District level. There are not sufficient court rooms.  There are lack of support staff. Court rooms are not sufficiently computerized causing delay in completing court procedures.

Complex Legal Procedure

The procedure followed by Courts are very complex. There is need to reform Code of Civil Procedure which is an old legislation. Frequent adjournments are granted by courts causing delays in determination of cases.

Lack of Accountability

Judiciary is independent in its functioning but has not developed appropriate procedure for fixing accountability of judges. Parliament and Legislatures have provided time lines  in various legislations to be followed  but even those time lines are not being  followed by the Judicial Officers.

Long Vacations

The Supreme Court and the High Courts are enjoying long summer and winter vacations which is a colonial practice. When such huge number of cases are pending, there is no justification for availing such long vacations. Vacations enjoyed by Higher Judiciary need to be rationalized.

The Way Ahead

There is immediate need for recruitment of a greater number of judges at all level of Judiciary.  The judge to population ratio has to be rationalized.  There is need of more allocation of funds for judicial infrastructure.

The recruitment system at High Court and Supreme Court level need to streamlined. Collegium system of recruitment is time consuming process and need to replaced with a more organized recruitment system, where every stakeholder is represented so that faster decision can be taken.

Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms have to be encouraged. Arbitration and conciliation procedure have to be encouraged.  Recently Parliament has passed Mediation Act, 2023 which is welcome step towards reducing judicial workload.

Judicial Officers and Advocates need to be given training for faster disposal of cases. Proper and effective case management system has to introduced. Use of technology in case management has to be more and more adopted.

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