Pendency of Cases in the Supreme Court: A Deepening Crisis Despite Full Judicial Strength
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Indian Polity and Governance (Judiciary - Supreme Court, its composition and jurisdiction); National Judicial Data Grid.
Mains:
General Studies Paper 2 (Polity & Governance): Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary; Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability. Judicial pendency and the reforms needed are a very important and recurring topic for Mains.
Key Highlights from the News
The number of pending cases in the Supreme Court has reached an all-time record of 88,417.
The most alarming aspect is that this crisis persists despite the full sanctioned judicial strength of 34 judges.
The main reason for this is that the number of newly filed cases is much higher than the disposal rate. In August, only 80% of the filed cases could be disposed of.
To reduce cases, Chief Justice B.R. Gavai had made arrangements for more benches to be working through the long summer recess. However, the crisis continues to worsen.
Even though successive collegiums have tried to fill judicial vacancies quickly, and the government has approved them promptly, the increasing number of pending cases clearly indicates the depth of this problem.
These figures were made available by the National Judicial Data Grid.
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