That Delhi is the second-most populous city in world comes as no surprise if one looks at its immensely overcrowded court complexes and the number of cases that remain pending at any given time of the year.
As per the statistics on the Delhi Districts Courts website, the total number of cases pending before magisterial courts as on May 1 were 3,51,272. Cases pending in the courts of Additional Sessions Judges were 21,821 (including 1,511 murder and 1374 rape cases); and cases pending before the court of Additional District Judge were 58,255.
Besides, the number of motor accident cases is 15,195, while 51,517 cases are pending in the courts of civil judges. Around 10,486 cases are pending in the court of rent controllers.
Only a few hundred judges are there at the district level to hear these many cases. At the Tis Hazari Court, which covers the Central and West District, there are only 131 presiding officers in lower and higher judiciary, while the Dwarka court has 47 judicial officers. Coming to the Delhi High Court, at present, there are 38 sitting judges, including the Chief Justice. The number of cases pending before it was nearly 1.15 lakh in 2012.
Such a high number of cases reveals the pressure on the police and judiciary alike.
Published - July 12, 2014 10:02 am IST
