Indian Judiciary: An Analysis of the Cyclic Syndrome of Delay, Arrears and Pendency

Abstract

India has been experiencing docket explosion and the problem of huge arrears of pending cases for the past seventy years. At present there are more than 22 million cases pending in various courts across the country. The large number of pending cases has crippled the efficient working of the judiciary and had adversely affected the right of the citizens to timely delivery of justice. In this paper a comprehensive analysis of the state of Indian judiciary has been made. The various factors which have attributed to docket explosion and arrears have been discussed by looking into various government and judicial reports, starting from the Arrears Committee Report of 1949 to the Supreme Court Report on Access to Justice (2016). The paper further discusses the challenges and impediments faced in dealing with the burdens of pendency and arrears, and analyses the recommendations of the various committee reports relating to judicial reforms. The article critically analyses the various procedural, legal and infrastructural reforms introduced in the recent past to bring about substantive judicial reforms, however these efforts have largely been piecemeal in nature. In addition the difference of perception between the judiciary and the government regarding the right solution has further aggravated the crisis. In this context the harmonious functioning of the three organs of the state and honest commitment of all the important stakeholders such as the Bar Council, the members of the legal profession and litigants holds the key to resolve the cyclic syndrome of delay, arrears and pendency.