Judicial reforms can transform lives and boost growth

The issue of judicial reforms is hot again.

- AJIT RANADE

There are many symptoms that point to their urgency. The first is case pendency. Indian high courts and district courts together had roughly 51 million pending matters as of January. About 12% had been stuck for over 10 years and nearly half the cases at both tiers were pending for more than three years. Another 82,000 cases were pending in the Supreme Court. The pipeline itself has thickened. Between 2020 and 2024, total pendency rose by nearly 20%.

What is perhaps less well known is that the rate of case disposal is quite impressive. Case-clearance rates (CCRs) in 2024 touched 94% in high courts, while a handful of courts achieved a CCR greater than 100% for three straight years. This indicates that the process reforms done so far have ensured that the incremental case load gets processed more efficiently. But the long-tail dominates the system’s dynamics. A big share of the docket is more than 3 years old, so even decent annual CCRs don't shrink the backlog.

This leads us to the second symptom: high judicial vacancies. These stand at 33% in high courts and 21% in district courts, while other staff vacancies climbed to 27%. If the system is clearing 90-100% incremental cases with an average vacancy rate of 24%, it means that with all positions filled, it can start cutting into the backlog significantly.