Calcutta High Court tops backlog with 94% of cases pending over 50 years: Union law ministry

The Calcutta High Court tops the list of high courts with the highest number of cases pending disposal for over five decades. Out of 2,329 such cases pending across all high courts in India, Calcutta HC alone accounts for 2,185 cases, which is 94% of the total. Since last year, the court has added 140 more such cases to its backlog, a TOI report stated.

Data released by the Union law ministry on Thursday shows that 22,829 cases have been pending for 40-50 years at 25 high courts nationwide. Additionally, there are 63,239 cases pending for 30-40 years, over 3.4 lakh cases for 20-30 years, and 11.5 lakh cases pending for 10-20 years.

The oldest case pending in any high court dates back to 1951 and has been unresolved for 74 years. Besides Calcutta HC, only eight other high courts have cases pending for over 50 years: Madras HC with 56 cases, Patna HC 46, Allahabad HC 17, Telangana HC 9, Orissa HC 8, Madhya Pradesh HC 4, and Bombay and Punjab & Haryana HCs with 2 cases each.

District courts show better record

The district judiciary has comparatively fewer cases pending for five decades, with 1,113 such cases, of which 39% are from Bengal. Overall, the total pendency of cases older than 10 years stands at 15,77,191.

Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, while responding to questions in Rajya Sabha, said several factors contribute to long case pendency. These include “complexity of the facts involved, nature of evidence, cooperation of stakeholders, viz. bar, investigation agencies, witnesses and litigants, besides the availability of physical infrastructure, supporting court staff and proper application of rules and procedures to monitor, track and bunch hearing of cases.”

Judge vacancies and appointments

Meghwal also stated that pendency and judge vacancies are not always directly related. As of August 1, out of the sanctioned strength of 1,122 judges in high courts, 778 were in position, leaving 344 vacancies. “Against these vacancies, 138 proposals for appointment of judges are at various stages of processing between govt and SC Collegium,” he added. The government has not yet received recommendations for 206 vacancies.

Efforts to reduce backlog

Despite Supreme Court directives urging all high courts to prioritize clearing cases older than 10 years, the backlog remains high. The government set up the National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms in August 2011 to improve legal access by reducing delays and arrears and enhancing accountability through structural reforms and performance standards.Separate arrears committees have been established in all 25 high courts to focus on cases pending more than five years. Similar committees operate at district courts to address delays.