New Delhi: In a major initiative to address the mounting backlog of cases in district and subordinate courts, the Ministry of Law and Justice has launched a focused, research-driven exercise to identify the causes of judicial delays and develop district-specific strategies to expedite justice delivery.
According to official estimates, more than 5.8 crore cases are currently pending across courts in India. District and subordinate courts account for the overwhelming share of this backlog. The 100 districts identified under the initiative are reported to contribute more than half of the total pending cases in district courts nationwide.
The focused intervention aims to accelerate case disposal, strengthen judicial efficiency, and reduce delays in the delivery of justice. By prioritizing districts with the heaviest caseloads, the government hopes to make a significant dent in the overall pendency burden and improve access to timely justice for citizens.
As part of the initiative, a video conference was convened with vice-chancellors of 19 National Law Universities (NLUs) from 16 states to discuss practical and research-based interventions to reduce the backlog. Senior officials, including the Secretary of the Department of Justice, the Director General (Awards), the Director General of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) and the Director General of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), also attended the meeting in person.
The discussions examined several potential measures to improve judicial efficiency, including the identification of infructuous cases, case profiling, alternative dispute resolution, effective management of adjournments, plea bargaining, mediation-assisted settlements and wider application of summary trial procedures.
The participating NLUs were encouraged to mobilise their pro bono legal services clubs, researchers and students to conduct ground-level assessments of case pendency in the selected districts. The exercise is expected to identify district-specific bottlenecks, establish the principal causes of delays and recommend practical mechanisms to reduce the burden on courts.
The universities were also asked to develop targeted action plans based on local judicial data and the specific challenges confronting each district. All participating vice-chancellors assured the government of their active involvement and commitment to contributing their academic expertise to the national initiative.
Concluding the meeting, Meghwal reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Viksit Bharat @2047, emphasising that an accessible, efficient, affordable, fair, speedy and responsive justice delivery system is essential to achieving the country’s development goals.
The initiative seeks to bring academic research, institutional collaboration and district-level analysis together to identify workable solutions to one of India’s most pressing judicial challenges: ensuring timely access to justice.