Indian Judiciary Fact of the Day

As of February 2006, 33,635 cases were pending in the Supreme Court with 26 judges; 3,341,040 cases in the high courts with 670 judges; and 25,306,458 cases in the 13,204 subordinate courts. This vast backlog leads to long adjournments and prompts people to pay to speed up the process. In 1999, it was estimated: ‘At the current rate of disposal it would take another 350 years for disposal of the pending cases even if no other cases were added.’

The ratio of judges is abysmally low at 12–13 per one million persons, compared to 107 in the United States, 75 in Canada and 51 in the United Kingdom. If the number of outstanding cases were assigned to the current number of judges, caseloads would average 1,294 cases per Supreme Court judge, 4,987 per high court judge and 1,916 cases per judge in the lower courts. Vacancies compound the problem. In March 2006, there were three vacancies in the Supreme Court, 131 in the high courts and 644 in the lower courts. Judges cope with such case lists by declaring adjournments. This prompts people to pay ‘speed money’.

-Indolence in India’s judiciary, Global Corruption Report 2007, p.215