{"id":34303,"date":"2018-10-30T16:50:44","date_gmt":"2018-10-30T11:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=34303"},"modified":"2018-10-30T16:50:44","modified_gmt":"2018-10-30T11:20:44","slug":"supreme-court-case-backlog-falls-below-60000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/supreme-court-case-backlog-falls-below-60000\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court case backlog falls below 60,000:\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/supreme-court-case-backlog-falls-below-60000-4911631\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Supreme Court case backlog falls below 60,000<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Context<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court has successfully managed to bring down its case <\/span><b>backlog below 60,000<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> through concerted efforts.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>The progress<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Justice Dipak Misra took over as the Chief Justice of India on August 28 and the total pending cases in the apex court then stood at 57,774. In two months, this has been reduced by 2,174 cases.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Between August 28 and October 27, the number of filed cases stood at 7,021, while 9,195 cases were disposed of.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On May 1, 2017, the total case backlog in Supreme Court stood at 60,751 out of which 39 are constitution bench matters.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Why is it important?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reduction in backlog cases in courts across the country has been a matter of priority for both the government and the apex court.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Justice delayed is justice denied. Backlog cases needs to be addressed for the welfare of the society.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What are the reasons behind the backlog?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Vacancies of judges<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With about 30 million cases pending in various courts across the country, Indian judiciary is struggling to clear a huge backlog. If on an average three persons are involved in a case, then there are at least 90 million people waiting for justice.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bulk of these cases is pending in subordinate courts thronged by poor litigants \u2013 who bear the brunt of the snail-paced system.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of late, the problem has been compounded by the <\/span><b>unprecedented increase in judicial vacancies across the three tiers of Judiciary. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Official figures show, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the SC is short of five judges, 24 High Courts have 464 vacant judges post and 4,166 at the subordinate courts.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Tiff between Judiciary and Government<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Appointment to the Supreme Court and high courts are done by a collegium of the top court. But judges in the subordinate courts are appointed by the state high court. <\/span><b>The stand &#8211; off between the government and the Supreme Court collegium<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> over a memorandum of procedure has made things worse for judicial appointments in the higher judiciary.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The tussle between the government and the Supreme Court has adversely <\/span><b>affected the efficiency of the judiciary<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The arrears are mounting and new appointments are not being made.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Judge-population ratio<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With a sanctioned strength of 21,000-odd judges, subordinate courts are under tremendous pressure as almost a quarter of the posts remain vacant, thanks to lack of advance planning and a poor recruitment policy.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Law Commission and the Supreme Court recommended <\/span><b>that India should have 50 judges per one million people, but the ratio continues to be abysmally low at 17 judges per one million people<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Department of Justice has said the problem of shortage of judges is being addressed through a <\/span><b>two-pronged strategy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Firstly, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by filling up the large number of vacancies <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and secondly, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">increasing the sanctioned strength of judges.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Increasing literacy<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Albeit at a slow pace, the number of cases being filed every year is increasing. An interesting reason for the same, apart from depleting moral conscience, is increased awareness, with increased<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">literacy. Kerala, for example, gets 28 new cases per 1,000 people. It has a literacy rate of over 90%. Jharkhand, which has a literacy rate of around 53%, gets four cases per 1,000.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Lower Courts<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the National Judicial Data Grid website as on December 31, 2015, 2.6 crore cases are pending only in lower courts of which 41.38% cases have been pending for less than two years and 10.83% have been pending for over 10 years. This is a resultant of rampant <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bribes for bail<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">postponing dates<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Why is it getting worse?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although the number of judges increased six-fold in the last three decades, the number of cases too shot up 12-fold, as per the 2012 report of <\/span><b>the National Court Management Systems (NCMS).<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even by conservative estimates, the number of cases reaching courts will touch 15 crore, requiring at <\/span><b>least 75,000 judges<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the next three decades, the report said.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With growing literacy and income, more and more people are likely to approach courts, contributing to the burgeoning backlog of cases.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Solutions<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is a need to have access to <\/span><b>high resolution data on judicial processes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at both the high court as well as the lower court level. A number of courts do not have data under the \u201cDate filed\u201d column, the most crucial piece for identifying delays.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Fast track courts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have proved their mettle, &amp; their importance cannot be emphasized enough. On the recommendation of the 11th Finance Commission, 1734 Fast Track Courts of Sessions Judges were sanctioned for disposal of old pending cases and the said scheme was to end on 31-3-2005.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Out of 18,92,583 cases, 10,99,828 have been disposed of by these courts. Keeping in view the performance of Fast Track Courts and contribution made by them towards clearing the backlog, it can be further put to use.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Mobile courts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that help taking justice to the door-step of the rural would significantly help in fighting the backlog.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was enacted to provide free and competent legal service to the weaker sections of the society to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities. To achieve that objective, <\/span><b>Lok Adalats<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are being held at various places in the country and a large number of cases are being disposed of with lesser costs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Mobile Lok Adalats<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are presently in place in different parts of the State of Bihar and on the lines of steps taken by the High Court of Patna of holding mobile Lok Adalats, the other High Courts need also work on the same lines so that speedy and affordable justice could be made available to the litigants at their doorsteps.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ministry of Law &amp; Justice is going to draw a <\/span><b>Gram Nyayalayas Bill <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">with an objective to secure justice, both civil and criminal, at the grass-root level to the citizens, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">which would be the lowest court of subordinate judiciary and shall provide easy access to justice<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to litigant through friendly procedures, use of local language and mobile courts wherever necessary.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>No<\/b> <b>judge specific metrics are available.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> With simple metrics like frequency of case disposal per judge or categorisation of subject matter with respect to judges, a great deal of accountability and trust would be brought into the system.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>New technology<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> should be leveraged, and not just technology for data collection. <\/span><b>Artificial Intelligence<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is fast maturing and with further advances in machine learning, standardised data collection can assist judges in forming judgements. A software developed by Nine Research Institute in China helped 300 judges handle 1,50,000 cases, reducing their workload by a third.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Significant progress has been made towards <\/span><b>computerisation of courts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. However, computerisation must include within its ambit the standardisation of data collection across courts and not merely computerisation within silos.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Video conferencing<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is statutorily provided but rarely available in practice and infrequently used even if available. Accountability needs to be fixed on individuals causing repeated delays in dispensing justice.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Case management hearings<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> should be introduced after pleadings have been completed by both parties where timelines are set and the court should impose sanctions against parties that fail to adhere to these timelines.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indian judiciary should also consider a consolidated <\/span><b>\u201cAdjournment Manual<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d applicable across all courts which codifies the conditions under which adjournment should be granted in order to reduce arbitrariness.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Economic uncertainty<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in decision making is further compounded by periodic encroachment by the judiciary in the domain of the executive. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two recent examples are the high court of Tamil Nadu asking the state government to waive farmers\u2019 loans and the highway liquor ban imposed by the Supreme Court.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The short term perspective furthered by these encroachments is severely impacting long term <\/span><b>predictability, consistency, and clarity of policies<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The high pendency in courts can decline only with <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">effective measurement, process overhaul, constant feedback, and by equipping the judiciary with technology and modern tools<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This alone can enable the emergence of a new and modern judicial system with the capacity to dispense justice speedily.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Way ahead<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Law Ministry\u2019s Department of Justice discussed ways by which pendency of cases can be reduced.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The deliberations revealed that the Centre and the States were responsible for over 46% of the 3 crore plus cases pending before the Courts across the country. While all States have formulated <\/span><b>State Litigation Policies, a National Litigation Policy is still underway<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This Policy will be <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">aimed at providing mechanisms to ensure reduction in Government litigation, and will lay emphasis on exploring alternative means of dispute resolution.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Suggestions<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>The Department went on to suggest the following ways to reduce pendency-<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Appointment of a nodal officer in every department at the Joint Secretary Level to coordinate effective resolution of the disputes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nodal Officer to regularly monitor the status of the cases.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Promotion of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Encouragement of mediation as the preferred form of dispute resolution in service related matters.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Avoiding unnecessary filing of appeals.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consideration of an intuitional ADR mechanism for resolution of cases between the government and private bodies.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Immediate withdrawal of vexatious litigation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supreme Court case backlog falls below 60,000:\u00a0 Context The Supreme Court has successfully managed to bring down its case backlog below 60,000 through concerted efforts. The progress Justice Dipak Misra took over as the Chief Justice of India on August 28 and the total pending cases in the apex court then stood at 57,774. In&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/supreme-court-case-backlog-falls-below-60000\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Supreme Court case backlog falls below 60,000:\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-test-1","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704576549},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34303\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}