The oldest case in the country (a case filed 221 years ago) is pending in Kolkata High Court !

324 years will be required to dispose of all cases as per a Government survey !

Editorial comment

Will people get justice if cases get disposed of at this pace ? Isn’t it unfair to people ?

Mumbai – In the country, 3.60 crores cases are pending in the Courts. Presently, in the 24 High Courts in this country, there are about 56 lakhs pending cases. Among them, 59, 595 cases are pending for more than 30 years. In the biggest Allahabad High Court of the country, there are 42,764 cases which are pending for more than 30 years. Kolkata High Court is known in the country for the highest pending cases. In this High Court, there are about 10,129 cases which are pending for more than 30 years. Among them is a case which is pending for more than 221 years. It is considered to be the oldest pending case in the country.

Hybrid courtroom is the need of hour. With 4.60 cr cases pending before various courts, tribunals & commissions, litigant friendly hybrid court is the way forward. Having evolving technology & modern means of communication, we can not afford to remain in era of postal service pic.twitter.com/HuzC8IMydt

— Rahul Singh 🇮🇳 (@rahulreports) October 31, 2021

1. As per a survey conducted by the Government, if the cases are disposed of with the present speed, it will take 324 years to dispose of all pending cases.

2. As per the statistics of NJDG, 89,000 cases are pending in 17,000 District Courts in the country which are more than 30 years old. In lower Courts also, there are 140 cases which are pending for more than 60 years.

3. As per media news, case No. AST/1/1800 pending in Kolkata High Court is the oldest in the country. It is a 221 years old matter which was first registered in 1800 in a lower Court. The last hearing of this case was held on 20.11.2018 in Kolkata High Court. The files of this case were pending in the lower Court for about 170 years. It was later registered with Kolkata High Court on 1.1.1970 for early disposal, but even in High Court, it is pending for the last 51 years.