While 2.84 crore cases are pending in the subordinate courts, the backlog clogging the High Courts and Supreme Court (SC) is 43 lakh and 57,987 cases, respectively. It means near about 3.5 cr cases are pending. This pendency of cases has huge cost on the economy as well as social sector.
All these are taking a severe toll on the economy in terms of stalled projects, mounting legal costs, contested tax revenues, and reduced investment more broadly. Here are the solution to address the issue:
- Expanding judicial capacity in lower courts and reducing existing burden on High Courts and The Supreme Court.
- Income tax being the highest restraint need to show restraint while filing cases against the assessee.
- There shall be expenditure on modernising and digitalisation of judiciary.
- The cases in the pendency list need to be prioritised especially when government infrastructure projects are involved.
- Judiciary and executive should come on board to devise a speedier method for the appointment of judges.
- Scope of lok Adalat should be increased.
- Building on the success of the Supreme Court, creating more subject-matter and stage-specific benches that allow the Court to build internal specialization and efficiencies in combating pendency and delay.