As on January 2, more than 2.3 crore cases are pending in district courts across India, of which, nearly 1.5 crore are criminal cases, and 72 lakh, civil, reveals a data piled up by the National Judicial Data Grid. The data comprises figures of the district judiciary of the nation but avoids figures from family courts and courts where connectivity is not accessible.
The most populated state Uttar Pradesh has the highest pendency with 55 lakh cases – 41 lakh criminal and more than 13 lakh civil. Over 13% (over 7 lakh) of the state’s total cases was not disposed of for over a decade with approximately 20 lakh cases, 36% cases are pending for less than 2 years.
The second spot was taken by Maharashtra with 31 lakh cases pending in the state’s district courts on January 2 – including 20 lakh criminal and more than 11 lakh civil cases.
The data also shows that countrywide cases pending for more than 10 years include 10% of the total at 23 lakh. Those pending between two and five years found 30%. The mainstream of the cases, over one crore (around 43%) have been unresolved for less than two years.
While the number of pending cases filed by senior citizens forms 3.5% of the total, almost 23 lakh of the pending cases were filed by women countrywide.
Significantly, Madhya Pradesh and national capital Delhi have chronicled a little pendency when compared to UP and Maharashtra at around 4.6 lakh and 5 lakh, respectively.
Tamil Nadu’s district courts have 9 lakh pending cases. But then contrary to the national trend, it has more civil than criminal cases.