Times of India - 16/12/08
New Delhi: We are not only argumentative, but also litigious, and our courts seem incapable of handling the burden arising out of it. A staggering 2.92 crore cases remained pending in various courts of the country as of June 2008. This admission was made by the government in an answer to Parliament on Monday. While the subordinate courts are still hearing 2.52 crore cases, 38.82 lakh cases are pending in the state high courts and there are 48,838 cases that were still ongoing in the Supreme Court by the end of August 2008. Out of the total pending cases in the lower courts, 1.85 crore involve criminal provisions of the law and 6.75 lakh cases are of civil nature. The pendency is highest in UP where the courts are still to adjudicate in 19.88 lakh cases and Maharshtra fares the second worst with 34.45 lakh cases still to see closure. The government has claimed that there has been an explosion in the number of cases but the situation has been worsened with the courts granting unnecessary adjournments to cases as well. The blame, the government believes, lies equally with the judiciary as well as the judicial system, besides its own shortcomings. It points to “unsatisfactory appointment of judges” and lack of punctuality of judges and inordinate concentration of work in the hands of some members of the bar as some of the 29 reasons for the mounting arrears. Besides these reasons, the reply mentions indiscriminate closure of courts as well as PILs as other problems. The government has also accepted that the judge strength is inadequate and there are delays in filling up vacancies in high courts.
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