SC to hear oldest constitutional case pending since 1986: A look at the growing mountain of pending cases

By: Anshul Vipat

Of the 69,000 cases pending in the Supreme Court, the oldest one was filed nearly 36 years ago and is a standing example of justice delayed being justice denied.

Of the 69,000 cases pending in the Supreme Court, the oldest one was filed nearly 36 years ago and is a standing example of justice delayed being justice denied. The case filed in 1986 that involves the religious practice of excommunication in the Dawoodi Bohra community will be finally be taken by the top court's constitution bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul. The case was last listed in 2005.

The three-decade delay in cases highlights the gross delay in delivering justice. Last month, the Ministry of Law and Justice released its report revealing that there are  more than 40 million cases pending in lower courts - 3.9 crore cases pending in the district and subordinate courts, 58.5 lakh cases in the various high courts, and more than 69,000 cases in the Supreme Courts. Most countries in the world have a total population that is lower than the number of pending cases.

As the accompanying chart shows, the problem of pending cases is a pan Indian phenomenon. Not surprisingly, Uttar Pradesh, the most populous and largest state of India has more than 10 million pending cases while the second most populous state Maharashtra has more than 5 million cases. Delhi, whose population is about 20 million, reports 1.3 million pending cases. Kerala had more than 1.3 million pending cases.

Apart from the civil and criminal matters, the most important constitutional cases has been pending for long. According to a study, the number of Constitution Benches being constituted by the Supreme Court has drastically decreased over the decades. According to a report in Live Law, the number of constitutional bench judgments dropped from an average of 134 per year in the 1960s to two in 2021. As of September 2022, 493 constitutional bench matters arising out of 54 main cases remained pending in the top court. Out of these, five are nine-judge bench cases, seven are seven-judge bench cases and 42 are five-judge bench cases. This was one of the primary reasons why Chief Justice of India UU Lalit made a historic move by announcing that the top court will hear 25 five-judge Constitution Bench (CB) cases from August 29.

Legal scholars have no doubt that the total number of pending cases in India will cross 50 million by the end of this year. At the current rate of disposal, it will take more than 400 years to clear all pending cases, presuming no new cases come before Indian courts.