Efforts taken by the Chief Justice of Madras High Court Sanjay Kishan Kaul to clear old cases that had piled up over the years and ensure speedy disposal of new cases not only by the higher judiciary but also by district and subordinate courts in all 32 districts in the State as well as in Puducherry have succeeded with courts recording impressive figures of disposal during the last calendar year.
According to the High Court’s Annual Report-2015, the lower courts began 2015 with a pendency of 10,38,820 (including 6,14,752 civil and 4,24,068 criminal) cases. However, those courts disposed of 11,51,349 (including 2,98,922 civil and 8,52,247 criminal) cases between January 1 and December 31 last year as against 11,95,322 (3,35,867 civil and 8,59,455 criminal) new cases filed during the same period.
This led to the courts adding 43,973 cases (36,945 civil cases and 7,028 criminal) to the number of pending cases during the beginning of this year.
Officials in the High Court Bench here pointed out that there has been a marked improvement in disposal of civil cases and phenomenal increase in disposal of criminal cases which included Sessions Cases, Criminal Appeals, Criminal Revision Petitions and cases pending before Special Courts.
Cases in Puducherry
Puducherry began 2015 with a pendency of 24,431 (12,252 civil and 12,179 criminal) cases.
During the course of the year, the courts disposed of 20,409 cases.
