Pending cases fall in Supreme Court, High courts but rise in lower courts

The number of cases pending in the Supreme Court and high courts has gone down in the past 3 years but the pendency has seen an upward swing in the lower judiciary, says data released by law ministry. According to figures compiled by the ministry, the apex court had 62,791 pending cases at the end of 2014. The figures went down to 59,272 in December, 2015. But at the end of 2016, the pendency in the Supreme Court went up to 62,537.

Similar is the case with the 24 high courts of the country where pending cases were pegged at 4.15 million at the end of 2014. But at the end of 2016, the cases went up to 4.01 million.

But in the subordinate courts—considered the backbone of the country’s justice delivery system—the pendency of cases has gone up in the last three years. While the pending cases in 2014 were recorded at 26.4 million, they went up to 27 million in 2015. In December, 2016, the pending cases went up to 27.4 million.