Indian Judicial System Crying For Reform

Syllabus: GS2/Judiciary

Context

• India’s judicial system calls for urgent reform, with over 4.8 crore cases pending across various courts, in which some have been pending for decades.

Pendency in Indian Judiciary

• As per the latest data available with the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG):
  • The Supreme Court of India has about 82, 500 cases pending with about 50% over a year old.
  • High Courts in India have about 60 lakh cases pending with about 55% over a year old.
    • High Courts like Allahabad and Bombay alone account for over 17 lakh pending cases combined
  • District Courts in India have about 4.8 crore cases pending with about 59.76% over a year old.
    • Top States by Pendency: Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, and Rajasthan.
• Casewise Distribution:
  • Civil Cases: 1.1 crore pending; 56.91% over a year old;
  • Criminal Cases: 3.7 crore pending; 60.62% over a year old;
  • Pre-litigation matters: 13 lakh pending; 52.37% over a year old;

Key Reasons for Judicial Backlog

• Judge Shortage: Limited bench strength (34 judges) versus case inflow of over 70,000 annually.
  • Nearly 30% in High Courts and 20% in District Courts are vacant.
  • India has only about 21 judges per million people, far below the recommended 50.
• Low Disposal Rates: Only about 12.8 lakh cases were disposed of in the last month, while nearly 20 lakh were filed.
• Procedural Delays and Inefficiencies: Special Leave Petitions (SLPs), frequent adjournments, poor documentation, and inadequate digital case management.
  • Manual processes, outdated case management, and lack of automation slow down justice delivery.
  • Delays in judge appointments from collegium recommendations.
• Infrastructure Deficits: Many courts lack basic amenities, digital tools, and adequate staff.
  • Incomplete digitization of records and poor inter-court data synchronization.
• Limited Use of ADR: Underutilization of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Lok Adalats.
• Pandemic Backlog: COVID-19 lockdowns added over 3 million pending cases between 2020–2022.

Impacts of High Pendency of Cases

• Economic and Business Disruption: A sluggish judiciary strangles economic vitality. Investors — domestic and foreign — hesitate to enter a market where contract enforcement takes over four years on average.
  • According to the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index, India performs poorly in ‘Enforcing Contracts’.
  • Economic resurgence cannot thrive where the rule of law moves slower than the markets it seeks to protect.
• Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied: Prolonged litigation erodes the credibility of the legal system. Victims and accused alike suffer from uncertainty and psychological stress.
  • Vulnerable Groups Affected:
    • Women: 8% of pending cases are filed by women.
    • Senior Citizens: 7% of pending cases involve senior citizens.
• Strain on Judicial Resources: Judges are unable to devote adequate time to complex cases, affecting the quality of judgments.
• Cycle of Litigation: The government is the largest litigant, contributing to nearly 50% of all cases.
  • It creates a vicious cycle where new cases outpace disposals, worsening the backlog.

Reform Measures

• eCourts Phase III (2023–2027): Unified case data and AI-based case listing system.
• National Judicial Infrastructure Authority (NJIA): To streamline funding and construction of court complexes.
• Fast-Track Courts: 1,023 operational nationwide, mainly for women and child-related crimes.
• AI Initiatives: Projects like SUPACE (SC) and SUVAS (Translation AI) to reduce human workload.
• Virtual Hearings Expansion: Post-pandemic continuation in Supreme Court and 25 High Courts.

Way Forward: Reforms To Overhaul Judiciary

• Contract Enforceability: Investors measure trust by the enforceability of contracts.
  • If India needs to sustain its growth momentum, judicial speed needs to complement economic ambition.
  • Justice cannot be eternal in process but immediate in promise — the two cannot coexist.
• From Justice to Attrition: India’s legal system allows layer upon layer of appeals, and minor disputes climb the entire judicial pyramid, clogging higher courts.
  • Appeals need to be limited to cases involving substantial questions of law or constitutional importance.
  • Comparative models, such as in Singapore and the UK, demonstrate that efficiency and fairness can coexist.
• Reforms in Bar Council of India (BCI): It remains trapped in the frameworks of 1961.
  • Young professionals from India’s best law schools struggle for fair opportunities.
  • Lineage and connections, not merit, often dictate success. Inside courtrooms, ‘face value’ trumps preparation.
• Indian Judicial Service: The creation of an Indian Judicial Service (IJS) could democratize opportunity and reward merit over connections.
  • Reforms like the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2025 sought accountability through limited government representation, but were rejected under the guise of autonomy.
  • Autonomy without accountability breeds opacity, not independence.
• Fairness Within the Profession of Junior Advocates
  • Mandatory stipends and apprenticeship contracts need to be institutionalized.
  • Whistle-blower protections and POSH compliance should be universal.
  • An independent Grievance Redressal Tribunal needs to replace political bar mechanisms.
• Legal Profession Regulation Bill: India needs it to bring standardized pay structures, mandatory continuing legal education, independent audits of Bar Councils, and transparent criteria for Senior Advocate designations.
• Reform needs to start where delay begins:
  • Adjournments should be limited and justified.
  • Accountability for delayed judgments needs to be enforced.
  • AI-based case clustering and digitised docket management need to replace manual, paper-heavy processes.
  • The judiciary risks becoming a monument to delay, not a medium of justice without such time reforms.

Source: BL