Over 15.8 lakh cases pending in Delhi trial courts; lawyer absence, court stays major causes

Delhi’s trial courts are burdened with over 15.8 lakh pending cases, with counsel not available, court stays and procedural delays emerging as the primary contributors, according to data from the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG).

The NJDG, maintained by the e-Committee of the Supreme Court, provides real-time data on pendency and disposal of cases across courts in the country, with the objective of improving transparency and monitoring judicial performance.

The data showed that magisterial cases account for the largest share, with 10,05,813 cases pending across Delhi district courts. These are followed by 2,92,670 miscellaneous criminal applications, 96,495 civil suits, and 40,964 sessions cases.

Other pending matters include 20,955 miscellaneous civil cases and 20,043 motor accident claim petitions. Besides, over 17,000 miscellaneous civil applications, 17,623 execution petitions, 15,502 marriage petitions, 8,322 criminal appeals, 7,847 industrial disputes and 7,169 arbitration cases are also pending in Delhi courts.

In total, the pendency across categories stands at 15,85,216 cases.

Among the reasons for delays, “counsel not available” emerged as the single biggest factor, accounting for 3,27,732 stalled cases, followed by 2,17,905 matters stayed for various reasons, the data said.

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A substantial number of cases — 26,123 — are also due to the accused absconding, and 20,571 cases are awaiting documents.

The data further shows that 9,183 cases are delayed due to non-availability of witnesses, while several others remain pending because of lack of interest by parties, repeated appeals and missing records.

As per the NJDG, 590 cases are stayed by the high court, while 42 cases are stayed by the Supreme Court.

An age-wise analysis indicated that a large portion of the backlog relates to relatively recent filings. Cases instituted in 2022 alone account for 1,51,278 pending matters, followed by 72,774 in 2021 and 45,970 in 2020.

Cases filed in 2016 and earlier constitute a comparatively smaller share of the backlog.