A Decline In Disposal And Increased Pendency – Bruises of Pandemic On District Courts

Covid-19 has adversely affected India’s justice delivery system. A report by Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy called Data Speak: A look at the District Courts’ Performance’, accessing the performance of District Courts, finds, that During Covid-19 Pandemic, “Disposal of cases saw a sharp decrease -- of 42.33% as the number of cases disposed went down from a total of 38896865 in 2018 and 2019 to a total of 22428561 in 2020 and 2021”.

The pandemic also caused a sharp decline in case filings. The report says, the District courts witnessed a decrease of 32% in case filing, as the number of cases instituted went down from a total of 46447870 in 2018 and 2019 to a total of 31559309 in 2020 and 2021. While India became an example in the world for continuing the legal proceeding virtually. Data suggests that Virtual hearings could not fill the gaps of an actual courtroom hearing.

Minister of Law and Justice in the Lok Sabha recently presented data in parliament on the pendency of cases in District courts, which says, a sharp increase of 13.45% in the pendency of cases was observed between the period of 31 December 2019 and 31 December 2020.  

Covid-19, like every other institution, affected the Judiciary. Though the judiciary attempted its best to overcome the challenges and continued to offer judicial and dispute resolution services to the citizens, the report says, “it was underprepared to handle a challenge as big as the pandemic.”

The most vulnerable citizens like. “the victims living with their abusers,  prison inmates trying to escape the overcrowded and infection-ridden prisons, and migrant workers trying to get their salaries approaching the judiciary, were met with closed courts, halted proceedings, and postponed hearings,” says the report. This adversely affected the access to justice – “the efficiency of the courts dropped massively, the pendency of the courts increased, the prisons became a breeding ground for the virus and the children accused of crimes had to spend crucial years of their lives awaiting justice,” it adds.