Supreme Court Sees Record High Of 83K Pending Cases, Despite Increase In Judge Strength

The Supreme Court of India's increased judge strength has had little effect on reducing case backlogs.

Over the past decade, pending cases have grown eight-fold, reaching nearly 83,000, the highest ever recorded.

Photo Credit: PTI

Despite efforts to manage this issue, the backlog remains a significant challenge, reported Times of india.

In 2009, the sanctioned strength of judges in the Supreme Court was raised from 26 to 31. However, this did not prevent the backlog from rising steadily from 50,000 to 66,000 by 2013.

During the tenures of CJIs P Sathasivam and R M Lodha in 2014, pendency reduced slightly to 63,000 cases. CJI H L Dattu further brought it down to 59,000 in 2015.
Impact of Technological Interventions

Justice J S Khehar proposed paperless courts using information technology for case management. This initiative helped reduce pending cases to 56,000 during his tenure. However, under Justice Dipak Misra as CJI in 2018, pendency rose again to 57,000 cases.

Justice Ranjan Gogoi convinced the government to increase the number of SC judges from 31 to 34 in 2019 through a Parliamentary enactment.

Despite this increase in judge strength, pendency grew to 60,000 cases. The Covid-19 pandemic further exacerbated delays during Justice S A Bobde's tenure as CJI.
Covid-19 Pandemic Effects

The pandemic severely disrupted the justice delivery system before virtual proceedings were adopted.

Consequently, case backlogs surged to 65,000 during Justice Bobde's tenure and continued rising under CJI N V Ramana in 2021-22.

By the end of 2022, with CJIs Ramana and U U Lalit retiring and Justice D Y Chandrachud taking over as CJI, pendency reached almost 79,000 cases.

Currently, there are about 82,831 pending cases in the Supreme Court. Of these, approximately one-third (27,604) are less than a year old.

This year alone saw the filing of around 38,995 new cases while the court disposed of about 37,158 cases.
Pendency Trends in Lower Courts

The high courts also face significant backlogs. In 2014, cumulative pendency stood at around 41 lakh cases and increased to about 61 lakh by early this year before dipping slightly to around 59 lakh now.

Trial courts have seen an even more dramatic rise in pending cases from approximately 2.6 crore in 2014 to around 4.5 crore currently.

The slow pace of trials affects individuals and society at large negatively. Delays prolong suffering and misery for those seeking justice and impact critical societal matters adversely.

It is often said that "justice delayed is justice denied," highlighting the urgent need for effective solutions.

Despite various technological interventions aimed at streamlining case categorisation and management under Justice Chandrachud's leadership, the backlog continues to grow