NEW DELHI: Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Sunday said district courts working with 30% vacancy in judicial officers had achieved 95% disposal rate and said to tackle the monstrous backlog of 4.5 crore cases, time had come to think of implementing All India Judicial Services (AIJS) for quick filling of vacancies for expeditious disposal of cases and reducing pendency.
Speaking at valedictory ceremony of the two-day national conference of district judiciary to mark 75 years of SC, the CJI said, “Our current national average disposal rate stands at 95%.”
“Despite progress, tackling pending cases remains a challenge. Increasing our disposal-to-filing ratio hinges on attracting skilled personnel. At district level, vacancies in judicial personnel stand at 28% and of non-judicial staff at 27%. For disposal to outweigh the institution of cases, courts must work beyond the capacity of 71-100%.”
“Time has come to think of national integration by recruiting members to judicial services across narrow walls of regionalism and state-centred selections,” he added. Centre’s AIJS, proposed in 2015, had virtually no takers, as only Haryana and Mizoram govts and HCs of Tripura and Sikkim had favoured it. Others opposed it on grounds of linguistic barrier and federalism.
The CJI said though women were outnumbering men in recent recruitments of judicial officers across states, sadly only 6.7% district court infrastructure are female friendly. “Is this acceptable in a nation where basic level of recruitment in some states sees over 60-70% women joining?” he asked & said judiciary’s focus areas were on increasing accessibility measures which could be understood by carrying out infrastructure audits, opening medical facilities and creches in court and technological projects.
“Inclusivity in judiciary is a reflection of our broader commitment to equality and justice. Some key measures are developing a comprehensive framework for gender equality in decision making; adopting measures to recruit, retain and promote members from diverse and vulnerable groups; and monitoring impact of gender equality initiatives,” he said.
He said panel on reducing arrears of cases had devised an action plan for reducing pendency through case management. Stages of tackling pendency are – preparatory stage of forming district level case management committees to identify target cases, undated cases, and reconstruction of records; resolve cases which have been pending for 10-20 years, 20-30 years and over 30 years.
He said from Jan to June 2025, judiciary shall execute third phase of clearing the backlog of cases pending for over a decade in courts.
Speaking at valedictory ceremony of the two-day national conference of district judiciary to mark 75 years of SC, the CJI said, “Our current national average disposal rate stands at 95%.”
“Despite progress, tackling pending cases remains a challenge. Increasing our disposal-to-filing ratio hinges on attracting skilled personnel. At district level, vacancies in judicial personnel stand at 28% and of non-judicial staff at 27%. For disposal to outweigh the institution of cases, courts must work beyond the capacity of 71-100%.”
“Time has come to think of national integration by recruiting members to judicial services across narrow walls of regionalism and state-centred selections,” he added. Centre’s AIJS, proposed in 2015, had virtually no takers, as only Haryana and Mizoram govts and HCs of Tripura and Sikkim had favoured it. Others opposed it on grounds of linguistic barrier and federalism.
The CJI said though women were outnumbering men in recent recruitments of judicial officers across states, sadly only 6.7% district court infrastructure are female friendly. “Is this acceptable in a nation where basic level of recruitment in some states sees over 60-70% women joining?” he asked & said judiciary’s focus areas were on increasing accessibility measures which could be understood by carrying out infrastructure audits, opening medical facilities and creches in court and technological projects.
“Inclusivity in judiciary is a reflection of our broader commitment to equality and justice. Some key measures are developing a comprehensive framework for gender equality in decision making; adopting measures to recruit, retain and promote members from diverse and vulnerable groups; and monitoring impact of gender equality initiatives,” he said.
He said panel on reducing arrears of cases had devised an action plan for reducing pendency through case management. Stages of tackling pendency are – preparatory stage of forming district level case management committees to identify target cases, undated cases, and reconstruction of records; resolve cases which have been pending for 10-20 years, 20-30 years and over 30 years.
He said from Jan to June 2025, judiciary shall execute third phase of clearing the backlog of cases pending for over a decade in courts.
