CJI forms advisory panel in ₹50,000 crore push for court infrastructure

Judicial Infrastructure Advisory Committee to prepare roadmap on court facilities, digital systems and tribunal infrastructure amid mounting pendency and staffing gaps

Company law tribunals operate from offices in the Central government office complex on Lodhi Road in New Delhi. The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal functions from Hotel Samrat in Chanakyapuri. The Delhi State Bench of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal operates from temporary premises, also at Hotel Samrat.

 

Outside the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court, meanwhile, lawyers struggle to find parking space, and commuters face traffic snarls every time the court is in session. That’s the situation with judicial infrastructure in just the national capital. 

Across the country, high case pendency apart, the legal system struggles with inadequate infrastructure — a problem the Chief Justice of India, Justice Surya Kant, has decided to do something about. On Tuesday, the CJI set up an advisory panel to assess the infrastructure requirements of courts across the country and make a case for a dedicated government allocation of ₹40,000-50,000 crore for the judiciary. 

The panel, called the Judicial Infrastructure Advisory Committee, has been asked to prepare a comprehensive report on the needs of the justice delivery system and submit it to Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Economic

Advisory Council, by August 31. 

Supreme Court judge Aravind Kumar will head the panel, whose other members are: justices Debangsu Basak of Calcutta High Court, Ashwani Kumar Mishra (Punjab and Haryana High Court), Somasekhar Sundaresan (Bombay High Court), the director general of the Central Public Works Department and secretary general of the Supreme Court. 

The move comes amid a renewed focus on the lack of judicial infrastructure — a problem linked to mounting pendency across courts. By the end of  March, pending cases in the Supreme Court alone had risen to 93,143, among the highest seen in three decades in the apex court. 

Justice Kant last year underlined the importance of investment in court infrastructure while inaugurating a renovated heritage building next to the Madras High Court. He said that while spending on judicial infrastructure may not yield monetary returns, it would help strengthen public confidence in the judiciary. 

India’s judge-to-population ratio is around 22 per million. As of February, there were 21,027 working judges, against a sanctioned strength of 25,894. 

Appointing more judges would likely bring up the need to add to the 22,712 courtrooms available in the country. 

Apart from the Supreme Court, high courts and trial courts, the working conditions at several tribunals have also been flagged several times. During a hearing on a plea concerning vacancies in the National Green Tribunal, a Supreme Court bench comprising justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan had criticised the Centre over poor infrastructure for tribunal members. 

“Former chief justices and high court judges are treated without dignity. Even for stationery, they have to keep requesting. The most rickety car is given to a tribunal chairperson. Housing, infrastructure, transport… nothing is in place,” Nagarathna remarked. 

The Bench also referred to an earlier ruling of another Bench directing the government to improve infrastructure in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).  In September last year, the Supreme Court, too, observed that retired high court judges were reluctant to join tribunals because they were treated “without dignity”, while the tribunals lacked even basic facilities. 

Several tribunals in the national capital continue to function from temporary or shared premises. 

Successive tribunal heads have similarly flagged the infrastructure problem. Former NCLAT chairperson S J Mukhopadhaya had identified the lack of permanent staff and inadequate courtroom space as major constraints, while former NCLT president Ramalingam Sudhakar raised concerns about the tribunal’s ability to handle large and complex insolvency matters without specialised benches. 

The committee formed by the CJI has also been tasked with examining bottlenecks faced by stakeholders in the justice delivery system and recommend measures to improve facilities for judges, lawyers, litigants and court visitors. It will also explore technology-driven interventions aimed at faster disposal of cases, expansion of computerisation and e-courts, and measures to digitally manage cases filed in courts. 

Its mandate also includes improving citizen-centric services to bridge the digital divide, planning modern court complexes and enhancing working conditions for judicial officers and court staff. Earlier this month, the Union Cabinet approved a proposal to increase the sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court from 33 to 37 judges (excluding the Chief Justice of India) in the first such expansion since 2019. The proposal will be formalised through an amendment to the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956. Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the decision as a step towards strengthening judicial infrastructure and ensuring speedy justice. The sanctioned strength of the apex court has steadily expanded over the decades, from eight judges in 1956 to 33 in 2019, in response to the increasing volume and complexity of litigation. 

The Centre has, meanwhile, sought to tighten monitoring mechanisms for projects under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for the Judiciary in district and subordinate courts. The scheme is periodically reviewed by parliamentary standing committees, internal audit mechanisms and third-party evaluations conducted under the aegis of the NITI Aayog.