Pendency in the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of India is currently experiencing an unprecedented level of case pendency, despite efforts to mitigate this issue.

Current Statistics

• Total Pending Cases: 88,417
• Civil Cases: 69,553
• Criminal Cases: 18,864

Recent Developments

• August Case Filing: 7,080 new cases instituted.
• Case Disposal Rate in August: 5,667 cases, achieving 80.04% disposal of cases filed.
• The pendency continues to rise despite full sanctioned judicial strength of 34 judges.

Efforts to Reduce Pendency

• Chief Justice B.R. Gavai increased the number of Benches working during the summer recess to manage the case backlog.
• The summer holidays were renamed ‘partial working days’ from May 23 to July, with 21 Benches working in batches.

Historical Context

• In 2025, 52,630 cases were filed, with 46,309 disposed of (approximately 88% disposal rate).
• In 2024, the pendency reached a peak of over 82,000 cases.

Challenges and Observations

• Successive Chief Justices have maintained minimal judicial vacancies to address pendency issues.
• The backlog has been increasing steadily since the pandemic, notably from 2023 onwards.
• A November 2023 Collegium resolution highlighted the "huge workload" and the necessity of maintaining full judge strength.

Government's Role

• The government has been promptly approving Collegium recommendations for Supreme Court appointments, sometimes within 48 hours.