Supreme Court's Constitutional Benches Handle 193 Pending Cases
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New Delhi, Dec 6 (NationPress) A total of 193 cases are currently outstanding before the Constitution Benches of the Supreme Court, as reported to Parliament on Friday.
The majority of these cases, 167, are with the Three-Judge Bench, while 19 cases await attention from the Five-Judge Bench, 5 cases are pending before the Seven-Judge Bench, and 2 cases are before the Nine-Judge Bench.
This figure of 193 cases is in addition to the more than 80,000 cases that are still pending before Division Benches, Chamber-Judge, and Registrar Court.
The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice, Arjun Ram Meghwal, stated in a written response in the Lok Sabha that the resolution of cases falls under the exclusive authority of the judiciary. However, he noted that various IT initiatives have been implemented by the Supreme Court to enhance its daily operations and manage the increasing caseload.
In response to a query from Kuldeep Indora of the Congress regarding the reasons for the backlog, Minister Meghwal explained that there isn't a single evident cause for the postponement of cases; it's a complex issue. Factors such as the country's growing population, improved accessibility, and heightened public awareness have led to a rise in new cases being filed each year. The pandemic, which began around 2020, has also played a significant role in the surge of pending cases over the last four years.
Emphasizing the government's commitment to enhancing judicial infrastructure, the Minister stated that as of now, Rs 11,571.57 crore has been allocated since the launch of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for Judicial Infrastructure Development in 1993-94.
According to Minister Meghwal, the number of court halls has increased from 15,818 as of June 30, 2014 to 23,590 as of October 31, 2024, and the number of residential units has risen from 10,211 in June 2014 to 21,076 by October 2024 under this initiative.
To expedite court proceedings, he highlighted that under Phases I and II of the e-Courts Mission Mode Project, information and communication technology (ICT) has been utilized for the IT enablement of District and Subordinate Courts. As of 2023, 18,735 District and Subordinate Courts have been computerized. Wide-area network (WAN) connectivity has been established in 99.5% of court complexes, and video conferencing facilities have been implemented between 3,240 court complexes and 1,272 jails, the Minister disclosed.
