Core Issue: Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied
- Prolonged delays in Indian courts undermine public trust and access to justice.
- District courts, which handle 87% of pending cases, face the worst delays — civil cases often stretch beyond 5 years.
Relevance : GS 2( Judiciary , Social Justice)
Data Highlights
- Total Pendency: Over 5 crore cases across all courts.
- Supreme Court: 86,700+ cases.
- High Courts: 63.3 lakh.
- District & Subordinate Courts: 4.6 crore+.
- Vacancy Rate: 21%–33% of sanctioned judge posts remain vacant.
- Only 15 judges per 10 lakh people, against Law Commission’s 50 judges per 10 lakh recommendation.
- Time to Disposal (Chart 2):
- Supreme Court Civil Cases: ~8.3 years.
- District Courts Civil Cases: ~5.7 years.
- High Court Civil Cases: ~5.3 years.
- Lok Adalat Potential:
- 22.2 crore cumulative cases resolved in last 4 years (pre-litigation + pending).
Key Structural Issues
- Severe judge shortage at all levels → Only 79% of sanctioned strength is filled.
- Heavy dependence on courts for every dispute → no credible ecosystem for pre-litigation resolution.
- District courts overstretched with complex, voluminous caseloads and poor infrastructure.
- Limited use of alternative mechanisms like ADR, mediation, online dispute resolution.
- Inadequate digital integration at lower judiciary levels despite e-Courts push.
Institutional Challenges
- Structural bottlenecks: outdated procedures, adjournments, lack of unified court management systems.
- Legal delays: frequent misuse of appeals, bail, and procedural loopholes.
- Inconsistent reform: judicial reforms often bypass subordinate judiciary where majority pendency lies.
Way Forward
- Fill all judicial vacancies urgently.
- Implement All India Judicial Services for professional recruitment.
- Strengthen ADR mechanisms: mediation, conciliation, Lok Adalats, Online Dispute Resolution.
- Expand digitisation, especially at district court level: AI-based case triage, e-filing, virtual hearings.
- Enforce strict adjournment control and case management systems.
- Create a National Judicial Infrastructure Authority (pending proposal) to modernise courts.
- Promote citizen awareness about alternative resolution options to reduce court dependency.
