“Lawyer Shortage Causes Delay in Over 66 Lakh District Court Cases”
Last Updated on September 17, 2024 by NewsDesk SLC
National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) statistics show that as of 14 September 2024, a total of 66,59,565 civil and criminal cases were pending in district courts in India due to the unavailability of lawyers. The NJDG identifies the causes of delays in district court cases and the main reason for the backlog is the unavailability of legal counsel to represent the parties. Most of them – more than 5.1 million – are criminal cases.
Over 38 lakh cases have been delayed because the accused are absconding. This is accompanied by delays due to “witness”, which account for 2,920,033 instances, and cases “stayed for diverse motives”, totaling 2,462,051. More than eight lakh instances have been behind schedule because events have been not fascinating. Other reasons for delays encompass the execution of decrees, common appeals, criminal representatives no longer being on the document, unavailability of case data, and instances being stayed through the High Court or Supreme Court, among others. These figures placed the highlight on lawyers in phrases of what role they play in growing the backlog earlier than our courts. Last 12 months, the Supreme Court while flagging the large pendency of instances in Maharashtra courts said that the problem cannot be resolved except that attorneys also cooperate with the process and act fairly.
“If the members of the Bar do now not cooperate with the Trial Courts, it is going to be very hard for our Courts to deal with the big arrears. While a tribulation is being conducted, the individuals of the Bar are expected to behave as officials of the Court. They are anticipated to behave themselves inexpensively and honestly,” the Bench discovered.
A couple of years later, Justice MR Shah revealed that the unavailability of lawyers to argue cases became a difficulty before the Supreme Court as well. He located throughout listening, “One of the reasons for pendency is a letter for adjournments. Every day five to 6 subjects in criminal subjects adjournment letters are given, where non-public problem is cited.” Former Chief Justice of India NV Ramana additionally entreated legal professionals to play their part in reducing pendency figures by advising their customers to settle disputes on the pre-litigation level itself. The NJDG reveals more interesting statistics on pendency. Another phase highlights the age of instances pending earlier than district courts. Approximately ninety-nine,000 have been pending for over 30 years. Over 2 crore instances had been filed in the beyond 0 to a few years and are nonetheless pending disposal.
There are 59,61,088 pending cases in the High Courts, of which more than 76,000 are more than 30 years old. Of the total pending cases, 1,07,972 cases are bailable.
Currently, a total of 67,390 cases are pending in the Supreme Court, with only 21 of them being over 30 years old.
