Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal has said that more than 4,43,92,136 cases were pending in various district and subordinate courts across the country, as on July 24.
Responding to questions raised by various Members of the Lok Sabha on Friday, the Minister said out of these, around one lakh cases have remained pending for more than 30 years.
The Union Minister said that around 69,000 cases were pending in the Supreme Court, where 32 judges were currently working, with two vacant seats.
The Minister shared the information provided by the Supreme Court of India, stating that as on March 21, 2023, the number of cases pending for more than 30-50, 30-40, 40-50 and more than 50 years was 22, 20, 2 and zero respectively.
There were no cases pending for 10 and 15 years in the top court of the country.
The Union Minister told the Parliament that Uttar Pradesh topped the charts, having more than one crore (1,16,35,286) cases pending in the state, followed by Maharashtra (5107191), Bihar (3500929), West Bengal (2903515) and Rajasthan (2271582).
The highest number of vacancies for judges in lower courts was also in Uttar Pradesh, revealed Meghwal, noting that around 1200 seats were vacant in the District and Subordinate Judiciary of UP.
He said the Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest pendency of 1039879 cases, followed by the High Courts of Bombay (700214), Rajasthan (652093), Madras (551953) and Madhya Pradesh having 445498 cases pending till date.
He further said that out of 341 vacant seats in various High Courts across the country, the highest number of 65 vacancies were in the Allahabad High Court.