More Than Three Crore Cases Pending in Indian Courts - When will we ever clear them?
THE Indian Judicial Citadel is falling apart under its own weight. As on 31.3.2010, there are about 2.74 Crores cases pending in our District and Subordinate Courts and about 1 Crore cases will be added every year. Assuming that the Courts are able to dispose of 1 Crore cases every year, this pendency of 2.74 Crore cases will remain forever.
As on 31.3.2010, there are over 41 Lakh cases pending in our 21 High Courts. This will also be a perennial pendency as new cases are added.
The position seems to be slightly better in the Supreme Court where 55717 cases are pending as on 31.08.2010. The Supreme Court can dispose off about 80,000 cases a year. Maybe the Supreme Court can clear the pendency and as of now cases pending for more than one year are only 36,037.
One reason for pendency could be the large number of vacancies unfilled in the Judiciary. In the Subordinate Judiciary, 17% of the posts are lying vacant. In the High Courts, the vacancy position is as high as 32% with only Himachal Pradesh having full strength.
Even the Supreme Court does not have full strength with two vacancies.
Our CESTAT and ITAT are not far behind!
The least we can do is – fill up those vacancies.