India to Witness 15 Crore Pending Cases by 2040
The report further explained, that the growing population of the country also adds up to the increase in the number of cases filed and pending. It claims “By this time, India's population should be about 1.5 billion. This will mean that some 15 crore cases may be filed into the judicial system each year by them. To achieve a ratio of 50 judges per million population, at 1.5 billion, India will need to have 75,000 judges,” as reported by TNN
The present lot of judges has matched the complainants' interest in filing cases. In the judicial system in 2011 alone over 2 crore cases were filled and a total of 2.04 crore cases were disposed of. This is estimated to 1,372 matters being disposed by every judge in the jurisdiction in a time period of 12 months. They all worked on decreasing the pendency from 3.20 crore to 3.136 crore, recording a reduction of nearly 6 lakh.
The Chief Justice of India was prompted to write to all chief justices of high courts to take up 'Five Plus Zero' initiative for nearly 30 percent of the cases estimating to 1 crore cases which are over five years old. The 'Five Plus Zero' initiative is to ensure that the cases which are pending for over five years should go up on priority basis, bringing the level of such cases to zero.
