Over 50 mn cases pending in courts; max 11.8 mn in UP's lower courts

More than five crore cases are pending in various courts across India, with a maximum of over 1.18 core in the subordinate courts of Uttar Pradesh, according to the government's written reply in the Lok Sabha.

Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said while 84,045 cases are pending in the Supreme Court, 6,011,678 were pending in the various high courts.

District and subordinate courts are the biggest contributors, with 45,351,913 cases pending with them, according to the minister.

Meghwal said several reasons lead to the pendency of cases, including the availability of physical infrastructure and supporting court staff, the complexity of facts involved, the nature of evidence, and the cooperation of stakeholders, including the bar, investigation agencies, witnesses and litigants.

Proper application of rules and procedures also plays a key role, he said.

Other factors that lead to delays in the disposal of cases include lack of prescribed time frame by courts for disposal of various kinds of cases, frequent adjournments and lack of adequate arrangement to monitor, track and bunch cases for hearing, the minister added.