3 crore and 60 lakh cases pending in the subordinate Courts : CJ N.V. Ramana

 There is a 21% shortfall in the number of Judges in the country’s subordinate Courts 

Editorial comment

• If this is the situation of the nation’s judicial system, how can justice be dispensed to its citizens ? All the Governments of various parties, who have done nothing about this in the 74 years post-independence, are culpable. 

New Delhi – On one side, till 2020 there is a 21% shortfall in the number of Judges in the nation’s subordinate Courts; while on the other there are 3 crore and 60 lakh cases pending. Chief Justice N.V. Ramana said the greatest obstacle in the judicial system was a large number of pending cases and the shortfall of Judges. The Chief Justice was speaking at a seminar on Intellectual Property Rights. Finance Minister Ms Nirmala Sitaraman and numerous Judges of the High Court attended this seminar.

The Chief Justice said,

1. It is not adequate to allocate funds for streamlining the facilities in the judicial system. Instead, it is necessary to immediately appoint Judges, without this there can be no improvement in the judicial process. Unfortunately, the efforts of the Central Government to establish a Statutory Authority in the Centre and the States has not been successful. Hence, it is necessarily essential that there is improvement in Judicial facilities.
2. Since taking charge as the Chief Justice, I have been trying to establish an institutional system for coordination and improvement in essential facilities. The challenge before us is how to utilise the available fund ?
3. There are a large number of pending cases in the country. To clear them fast, there must be an adequate number of Judges. We are continuously making a demand about this matter to the Government. The process of filling the vacant posts for Judges has to begin soon, only then will there be settlement in the pending cases.