96,000 cases pending in SC, 10,000 stuck for over a decade: Centre to Rajya Sabha

Among these 96,000 cases, 26 have remained pending for over 30 years, while 558 have been awaiting disposal for more than 20 years.

In Short

• 80,660 cases have remained pending in high courts for over 30 years
• Centre says disposal of cases falls exclusively within the judiciary's domain
• 26 cases have been pending in the Supreme Court for more than three decades

More than 10,000 cases have been pending before the Supreme Court for over a decade, while 80,660 cases have remained unresolved in high courts for more than 30 years, the Centre informed the Rajya Sabha last Thursday, highlighting the scale of judicial backlog across the country.

In a written reply, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said the Supreme Court currently has more than 96,000 pending cases. Of these, 26 have remained pending for over 30 years, while 558 have been awaiting disposal for more than 20 years.

Collectively, 5.64 crore cases are pending across the Supreme Court, the country's 25 high courts, and district and subordinate courts, according to data available on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG).

According to a report by The Times of India, despite the Centre investing more than Rs 9,800 crore since 2011 to modernise court infrastructure and integrate technology into the justice delivery system, decades-old cases continue to clog the judicial system.

The report noted that over 10,000 Supreme Court cases have remained pending for more than 10 years, while over 80,000 cases in high courts have been awaiting disposal for more than three decades.

Responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Meghwal said the disposal of cases falls within the exclusive domain of the judiciary. He added that pendency is influenced by several factors, including the complexity of cases, the nature of evidence, and the cooperation of stakeholders such as lawyers, investigating agencies, witnesses and litigants.

The figures come amid continuing concerns over judicial delays and mounting pendency across courts, even as efforts to improve infrastructure and digitise the justice delivery system have gathered pace in recent years.

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