Haphazard appointment of judges is worsening High Court judicial delays

The number of pending cases has declined during 2017 by a slight margin in only three of 24 high courts

High courts nationwide are 37% short of judges, and ad hoc appointments–not posting judges to courts that need them most–are worsening delays and affecting India’s economy, according to our analysis of data released by the department of justice.

There were over 4.2 million cases pending in the 24 high courts of India on February 4, 2018, according to the National Judicial Data Grid, with 49% of these cases more than five years old.

Data from central ministries show that infrastructure projects of close to Rs 520 billion are affected by