Calcutta High Court leads backlog with 94% of cases pending over 50 years, reveals Union Law Ministry data highlighting urgent need to address long-standing judicial delays in India.
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CALCUTTA: India’s judicial system is facing a severe backlog crisis, with thousands of cases pending for decades across high courts and district courts. The Calcutta High Court stands out as the worst affected, accounting for the vast majority of cases pending for over 50 years. This growing backlog highlights critical challenges in timely justice delivery and calls for urgent reforms to address the persistent delays in our courts.
Out of the total 2,329 cases pending for over five decades across all high courts in India, the Calcutta High Court alone accounts for a staggering 2,185 cases, that is 94% of the total. Shockingly, the court has added 140 more such cases to its backlog in just the last year, signaling a worsening crisis rather than improvement.
The judicial pendency is not limited to just the Calcutta HC:
- 22,829 cases have been pending for 40-50 years at 25 high courts.
- 63,239 cases are pending for 30-40 years.
- Over 3.4 lakh cases await disposal for 20-30 years.
- An overwhelming 11.5 lakh cases have been pending for 10-20 years.
The oldest pending case dates back to 1951, unresolved for 74 years, underscoring systemic inefficiencies in timely justice delivery.
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Apart from Calcutta HC, only eight other high courts have cases pending for over 50 years:
- Madras High Court – 56 cases
- Patna High Court – 46 cases
- Allahabad High Court – 17 cases
- Telangana High Court – 9 cases
- Orissa High Court – 8 cases
- Madhya Pradesh High Court – 4 cases
- Bombay and Punjab & Haryana High Courts – 2 cases each
The district judiciary fares marginally better in dealing with ultra-old cases. There are 1,113 cases pending for over five decades in district courts, with 39% of them coming from Bengal. Yet, the overall pendency of cases older than 10 years at district levels is alarmingly high, standing at 15,77,191 cases.
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Addressing these concerns in the Rajya Sabha, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal pointed out that several factors contribute to the prolonged pendency:
- Complexity of facts and nature of evidence
- Lack of cooperation from stakeholders, including bar members, investigation agencies, witnesses, and litigants
- Inadequate physical infrastructure and supporting court staff
- Insufficient monitoring and procedural efficiency
Judge vacancies remain a major concern, but are not solely responsible for pendency, the Minister said. As of August 1, out of a sanctioned strength of 1,122 judges in high courts, 778 were in position, leaving 344 vacancies. The government is processing 138 proposals for appointments, while recommendations for 206 vacancies are still awaited from the Supreme Court Collegium.
Despite Supreme Court directives prioritizing the clearance of cases older than 10 years, the backlog remains significant. The government has taken steps such as:
- Establishing the National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms in August 2011 to enhance access to justice through structural reforms.
- Setting up separate arrears committees in all 25 high courts, focusing on cases pending more than five years.
- Implementing similar committees at the district court levels.
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