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Judiciary Snapshot — 2026-08-02

The ticking clock of pending cases

Case pendency, filing and disposal flows, case age, and court capacity in one dated view. 56912752 cases are pending across all courts.

At a glance

  1. 01India's courts have 56912752 pending cases across all levels — District Courts alone account for 88.46% of the backlog.
  2. 02The clearance rate (cases disposed ÷ cases instituted) was below 100% in the stated period, meaning more cases entered than were disposed. Staffing, vacancies, process, productivity, and case mix are separate explanatory questions.
  3. 03Nearly one in four High Court cases in this snapshot are older than 10 years. This measures the age of the pending stock; it does not by itself identify the cause of delay.
Total Pendency
56912752
All courts combined
District Courts
50346053
District & subordinate courts
High Courts
6470820
All High Courts
Supreme Court
95879
Supreme Court of India
Pendency and July case-flow values were read from the three live NJDG dashboards on 2026-08-02. Judge strength uses each row's own official cutoff: the live Supreme Court roster on 19 August 2026, the Department of Justice vacancy statement of 1 May 2026 for High Courts, and the latest complete parliamentary annexure for District & Subordinate Courts on 11 February 2026.
Courts & Judges
Latest official cutoff shown for each court tier
Courts count: District & Subordinate Courts reported by the live NJDG dashboard.
Courts Covered
20,730
NJDG coverage
Judges Sanctioned
27,054
All courts
Judges Working
21,859
In position
Vacancies
5,195
Open positions
Courts per Million
17.1
Courts per million population (NJDG-covered courts using 2011 Census baseline from Govt reply).
Judges per Million (Govt)
22
Based on sanctioned strength and 2011 census.
Judges per Million (IJR)
15
India Justice Report 2025 estimate.
Supreme Court
Sanctioned38
Working35
Vacant3
As of 19 August 2026
High Courts
Sanctioned1,122
Working797
Vacant325
As of 1 May 2026
District & Subordinate Courts
Sanctioned25,894
Working21,027
Vacant4,867
As of 11 February 2026
July 2026 Case Flow (All Courts)
All Courts
Instituted3052181
Disposed2524622
Clearance rate82.7%
District & Subordinate Courts27,90,936 / 22,82,701
High Courts2,53,805 / 2,35,693
Supreme Court7,440 / 6,228
Dark bars show instituted cases; green bars show disposed cases for July 2026.
Age of Pending Cases (High Courts)
0-1 year1725131 · 27%
1-3 years1206165 · 19%
3-5 years711763 · 11%
5-10 years1326823 · 21%
10+ years1500938 · 23%
Nearly one in four High Court cases are older than 10 years.
Civil vs Criminal Mix
All Courts
56912752
Civil
15917674
Criminal
40995078
Civil share vs criminal share of total pending.
District & Subordinate Courts50346053
Civil: 11335947Criminal: 39010106
High Courts6470820
Civil: 4507516Criminal: 1963304
Supreme Court95879
Civil: 74211Criminal: 21668
District Disposals: Contested vs Uncontested
Disposals at 15 May 2026 snapshot12,99,941
Contested28%
Contested28%
369869
Civil73056
Criminal296813
Uncontested72%
930072
Civil230535
Criminal699537
Contested cases form a smaller share of disposals but tend to consume more hearing time.
Where Pendency Sits
District & Subordinate Courts
88.46 of total
50346053
High Courts
11.37 of total
6470820
Supreme Court
0.17 of total
95879
Why It Keeps Growing
Case inflow grows faster than disposal in many years.
Vacancies and uneven judge availability across courts.
Adjournments, procedural delays, and frequent re-listing.
Infrastructure gaps and limited court management capacity.
What Could Help
Focus on early-stage case management and strict timelines.
Increase judge strength and support staff where pendency is highest.
Expand e-courts, digitization, and standardized case tracking.
Target old cases with dedicated backlog clearance drives.
NJDG At A Glance
The national data backbone for court transparency.
eCourts Project
What NJDG is
National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) is a database of orders, judgments, and case details from 18,735 District & Subordinate Courts and all High Courts, built under the eCourts Project.
Live updates
Data is updated on a near real-time basis by connected District and Taluka courts, giving the public an up-to-date view of pendency and disposals.
Orders & judgments coverage
Litigants can access more than 32.19 crore orders/judgments from computerized courts (as of 19.08.2025).
Supreme Court onboarded
Supreme Court data was onboarded to NJDG on 14.09.2023.
Civil + criminal drill-down
NJDG provides case data for civil and criminal matters with drill-down by age, state, and district.
Reasons for delay
Reasons for delay are now included in NJDG to track bottlenecks and enable policy responses to reduce pendency.
Open API access
An Open API is available for Central and State Government agencies (with departmental credentials), with proposals to expand access to non-institutional litigants.
Longest-Running Matters
Multi-decade cases that shape rights, policy, and public trust.
Multi-decade cases
62,000+ High Court cases over 30 years
Official data reported that nearly 62,000 High Court cases are older than 30 years, including cases pending since 1952.
Oldest High Court cases since 1952
Three High Court matters have been pending since 1952, with additional cases dating back to 1954 and 1955.
Constitution Bench oldest since 1986
The oldest Constitution Bench matter in the Supreme Court has been pending since February 28, 1986.
Central Board of Dawoodi Bohra Community v. State of Maharashtra
Supreme Court (Constitution Bench)
Pending since 1986
A long-pending Constitution Bench case; delays affect hundreds of connected matters that rely on these constitutional interpretations.
Surcharge on sales tax (7-judge bench)
Supreme Court (Constitution Bench)
Pending since 1999
Pending questions on tax law interpretation keep related disputes unresolved and impact fiscal certainty.
Minority status of Sikhs in Punjab
Supreme Court
Pending since 2010
Continued uncertainty for rights and policy decisions tied to minority status.
Compensation for Bhopal gas tragedy victims
Supreme Court
Pending since 2011
Delays prolong closure and relief for affected communities.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources18
  1. NJDG District & Taluka Courts dashboardnjdg.ecourts.gov.inPublisher page
  2. NJDG High Courts dashboardnjdg.ecourts.gov.inPublisher page
  3. NJDG Supreme Court dashboardscdg.sci.gov.inPublisher page
  4. Department of Justice: National Judicial Data Grid (overview)doj.gov.inPublisher page
  5. Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 118: 22 judges per million (29 Jan 2026)sansad.inPDF document
  6. Economic Times: India Justice Report 2025 (15 judges per million)economictimes.indiatimes.comPublisher page
Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2825 (Judges strength, 12.12.2024)Supreme Court Observer: Cabinet clears Bill to expand SC strength to 38 judges (May 2026)Supreme Court Observer: Ordinance lifts Supreme Court strength to 38 (16 May 2026)LawBeat: President assents to the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 2026Wikipedia: List of sitting judges of the Supreme Court of IndiaSCC Online: Union Cabinet approves Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 (6 May 2026)Department of Justice: Sanctioned, working strength and vacancies as on 01.05.2026Department of Justice: Vacancy PositionSupreme Court of India: Chief Justice and sitting judges (live roster)Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2362: court strength and vacancies (11 Feb 2026)India Today: Oldest Constitution Bench cases and pendency (Sept 2023)Business Standard: High Court cases pending over 30 years (Aug 2023)