The judicial pendency question: How to lighten the court’s load

• Much has been said about why we have a staggeringly high number of cases that constitute “pendency” or cases that are undecided in the court system.
• India has about 21 judges for every million people, as the government recently informed the Rajya Sabha. China, by contrast, has about 159 judges for every million people.

Indian efforts to resolve the issue of pendency of cases

• “Action Plan to reduce Government Litigation”: Released in 2017 by dept of justice of the Government of India in response to the fact that 46% of the total pending cases in the court system pertains to the government.
• LIMBS project (Legal Information Management Briefing System): intends to connect 55 ministries and their departments for litigation management.
• National Litigation Policy, 2010: “based on the recognition that the govt and its agencies are the predominant litigants in courts and tribunals in the country”.

Need to reduce no. of litigations against the Govt

• Reducing the burden on the courts: the costs involved in pursuing litigation eat into public funds.
• A battle of unequals: A court battle between the individual and the state is also a battle of unequals.
• An efficient usage of court: What we need to address the overburdened court system is for the largest litigant to use the court system more efficiently and cautiously.
• Appointing more judges: to helping more dispute resolution as well.

Prelims Takeaway

• “Action Plan to reduce Government Litigation”
• LIMBS project