Number of cases pending in lower courts rises by over 9 lakh in 11 months

 The number of cases pending in district and subordinate courts went up by more than nine lakh in the past 11 months, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

In a written reply, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said while more than 4.44 crore cases were pending in various lower courts as on January 1, the number went up to over 4.53 crore -- an increase of 9.22 lakh -- as on November 15.

In another reply, the law minister told the Upper House that the subordinate and district judiciary was facing a shortage of 5,245 judicial officers.

According to data shared by the government, citing figures on the National Judicial Data Grid, of the 4.53 crore cases pending as on November 15, the number of civil cases stood at 1.10 crore.

The number of criminal cases pending stood at 3.43 crore.

In another reply, the minister told the House that overall, more than 5.16 crore cases were pending across courts as on November 21.

In a written reply on July 20, 2023, the government had said that the pendency had crossed the five-crore mark with more than 5.02 crore cases pending across courts.