Nearly 26,000 cases disposed of by Supreme Court so far: Law Minister

The Supreme Court has disposed of nearly 26,000 cases so far this year while the 25 high courts have settled over 5.23 lakh cases, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal informed Lok Sabha on Friday.

On Thursday, the minister had informed Rajya Sabha that cases pending in various courts in the country had crossed the five-crore mark.

Citing data from the Supreme Court's Integrated Case Management Information System (ICMIS), Meghwal, in a written reply in Lok Sabha, said the top court had settled 25,959 cases till July 15 this year.

The 25 high courts disposed of 5,23,338 cases till July 17 this year, he said, citing National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) data.

Meghwal said the disposal of pending cases in courts is within the domain of the judiciary.

"No time frame has been prescribed for disposal of various kinds of cases by the respective courts. The government has no direct role in disposal of cases in courts," he said.

He said timely disposal of cases in courts depends on several factors, including availability of adequate number of judges and judicial officers, supporting court staff and physical infrastructure, complexity of facts involved, nature of evidence, cooperation of stakeholders -- Bar, investigation agencies, witnesses and litigants, and proper application of rules and procedures.

In his written reply in Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Meghwal had said over 5.02 crore cases were pending in various courts -- Supreme Court, 25 high courts and subordinate courts.

"As per data retrieved from the Integrated Case Management System by the Supreme Court of India, as on July 1, there are 69,766 cases pending in the Supreme Court.

"Total number of cases pending in the high courts and the district and subordinate courts as on July 14 are 60,62,953 and 4,41,35,357 respectively, as per information made available on National Judicial Data Grid," he had said.