Examining pendency of cases in the Judiciary
Distilled Policy Brief
- Parliament increased the number of judges in the Supreme Court from 30 to 33, excluding the Chief Justice of India, to address rising case pendency.
- As of August 2019, over 3.5 crore cases were pending across the Supreme Court, High Courts, and subordinate courts, with subordinate courts accounting for 87.3% of them.
- Growing judicial pendency has resulted in prisons running at an over-capacity of 114%, where two-thirds of the four lakh prisoners in jails as of 2015 were undertrials.
🎯 Prelims High-Yield Examination Points
As of August 2019, over 3.5 crore cases were pending across Indian courts, with subordinate courts holding over 87.3% of the total pending cases.
⚖️ Mains Analytical & Syllabus Linkages
Examine the systemic causes of massive case pendency and judicial vacancies in Indian courts, and evaluate its direct impact on undertrial incarceration and prison over-capacity.
🎯 UPSC Prelims Practice Drill
With reference to the pendency of cases in the Indian judiciary, consider the following statements: 1. Parliament increased the sanctioned strength of Supreme Court judges to 33, excluding the Chief Justice of India. 2. Subordinate courts account for the vast majority of pending cases, whereas the Supreme Court accounts for less than one percent of the total pending cases. 3. The primary reason for the growing backlog of cases is that the number of disposed cases consistently outpaces the number of new cases filed every year. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- [A] 1 only
- [B] 1 and 2 only
- [C] 2 and 3 only
- [D] 1, 2 and 3
▶ Reveal Official Answer & Analytical Explanation
Statement 1 is correct: Parliament increased the number of judges in the Supreme Court from 30 to 33, excluding the Chief Justice of India. Statement 2 is correct: Subordinate courts account for over 87.3% of pending cases, while the Supreme Court accounts for a minuscule portion (0.2%). Statement 3 is incorrect because the primary reason for the growing backlog is that the number of new cases filed every year has outpaced the number of disposed of cases, not the other way around.
🏛️ Historical Twin PYQ Anchor (2021)
Consider the following statements regarding the "National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)": 1. It is implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. 2. Central Pollution Control Board acts as the sole regulatory executive body.