New Delhi- A staggering 5.15 crore cases are currently pending in Indian courts, including the Supreme Court, High Courts, and District and Subordinate Courts, according to a statement made in Parliament on Thursday. This information was shared by Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice, in a written reply to a question raised in the Rajya Sabha.

Of the total pending cases, 82,171 are in the Supreme Court, as per data available on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) until November 30. High Courts are grappling with 57.82 lakh pending cases, while District and Subordinate Courts face a backlog of 4.56 crore cases.

Minister Meghwal highlighted several factors contributing to the case backlog, including insufficient physical infrastructure and support staff, complex legal cases, the nature of evidence required, and the cooperation of stakeholders like lawyers, investigation agencies, witnesses, and litigants. He also pointed to procedural issues such as the lack of prescribed timeframes for case disposal, frequent adjournments, and inadequate systems for monitoring and tracking cases.

The Minister also addressed the judge-population ratio in the country, stating that it currently stands at approximately 21 judges per million population, based on the 2011 Census population of 1210.19 million and the sanctioned strength of judges in 2024.

Details provided by the Minister revealed that the Supreme Court saw the appointment of four judges in 2024, 14 in 2023, three in 2022, nine in 2021, and ten in 2019, with no appointments made in 2020. High Courts witnessed a total of 34 fresh appointments in 2024, 110 in 2023, 165 in 2022, 120 in 2021, 66 in 2020, and 81 in 2019.