There is an interesting article in the latest edition of Outlook here on backlogs and delays in the various High Courts. The article does not make any new arguments- the interesting part is really the statistics. Even assuming 5 minutes for each case, our high courts need 297 years to dispose off the backlog. That number is staggering and becomes enormous as we know it is impossible to dispose any case in 5 minutes. Of course, 297 is not the real number as it is only an aggregation of the time required by the various high courts. The actual time ranges from 1 to 60 years, with the average time required by the larger courts being more than 20 years. For lawyers, this appears hopeless. For justice seekers, this is crushing.
High Courts and backlogs
Further reading
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Don’t you think there is a need for better collection of statistics to identify the reasons for these delays i.e. is litigation being used merely as a time delaying tactic or is the backlog because of too few judges.
A couple of years ago Fali Nariman had proposed a Judicial Statistics Bill – do you have any idea as to what happened to that Bill?
Thanks,
Prashant
Being a Private Member’s Bill, it failed to get the requisite support in the House.