More than 1.47 lakh cases are pending adjudication in the courts of Jammu and Kashmir, the highest number among them in the twin capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu, reveals National Judicial Data Grid.
According to the data, the number of pending cases in the state’s courts on September 22 is 147,362 of which 81,471 are criminal cases and remaining 65,991 are civil cases.
The highest number of pendency among districts is in Srinagar and Jammu cities, with 26,130 in Srinagar and of 41,271 in Jammu awaiting disposal.
The pending cases involving senior citizens are 5258 and those filed by women are 11,155 of which 4515 are criminal cases and 6640 are civil cases.
Moreover, 4455 cases are awaiting adjudication for more than 10 years. Cases pending between 5 to 10 years are 24,188 which accumulate to 16.41 percent of the total pendency in all the state’s courts.
The cases pending between 2 to 5 years are 44,272 which come to 30 percent, while those pending for less than two years are 74,447 amounting 50 percent pendency rate.
The picture is not much different across India with 3.3 crore cases pending in courts, 2.84 crore of them in the subordinate courts.
The backlog clogging the High Courts and Supreme Court (SC) is 43 lakh and 57,987 cases, respectively.
According to National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), five states which account for the highest pendency are Uttar Pradesh (61.58 lakh), Maharashtra (33.22 lakh), West Bengal (17.59 lakh), Bihar (16.58 lakh) and Gujarat (16.45 lakh).
New Delhi-based Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, a think-tank that conducts legal research, has in its report revealed that Jammu and Kashmir took 742 days compared to the benchmark of 153 days needed to complete its two-tier recruitment cycle for civil judge posts.
The report said most states and their high courts do not adhere to the schedule laid down by the Supreme Court for filling up the judicial vacancies.
The report ranks states based on average time taken to complete one recruitment cycle and the percentage of vacancies potentially filled. It collated data for a 10-year period, from 2007 to 2017.
According to a SC order, the two-tier process should take 153 days whereas the three-tier examination procedure should take around 273 days.
The two-tier process consists of a written exam and an interview, whereas the three-tier system comprises a preliminary exam followed by a written test and an interview.