Increase in litigation reflects people's confidence in system: SC judge

Supreme Court judge Justice Rajesh Bindal on Tuesday said the increase in litigation should not dishearten anybody as it shows people's confidence in the country's legal system.

Delivering a lecture as part of the Constitution Day celebrations at the India International University of Legal Education and Research (IIULER) in Goa, Justice Bindal said that around five crore cases are pending in civil courts in the country, including 4.2 crore cases in district courts, about 60 lakh in the high courts and 70,000 in the Supreme Court.

If the average number of parties in each case was assumed to be four and each party's family member average taken as four, the total number of people affected by the pendency would be five crore multiplied twice by four and it comes to 80 crore. Then there are a large number of witnesses also associated with these cases, he said.

In a country with a population of 140 crore, this number shows that the legal fraternity is connected with almost everybody's life, he added.

The legal fraternity has a very big responsibility, Justice Bindal said, adding that one should never be discouraged by the increasing litigation as it also reflects the people's confidence in the legal system of the country. Speaking about the Constitution, he said one of the major problems of our times is that many of us might not have read what it says about the citizens' fundamental duties.