229th Report - Law Commission of India

2.4 The problem of delay in trial and disposal of cases and consequentpendency of cases in the apex court and the courts subordinate has been amatter of great concern, debate, discussion and criticism. The DepartmentRelated Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, PublicGrievances, Law and Justice in its 28 th Report dealing with the SupremeCourt (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill 2008 has noted thus:“The Committee has felt that inordinate delay in delivering justiceto the people defeats the very purpose of the judiciary as aninstitution. The magnitude of the problem of the pendency of casesin various levels in the judiciary must be understood in the contextthat the people resort to judicial remedy as a last resort for theredressal of their grievances and to get justice. This is so becausepeople have reposed their ultimate faith and trust in the judicialsystem above the legislature and executive. In this contextpendency of cases hits the common man, seeking justice, thehardest. Perhaps, that is the reason that it is said justice delayed isjustice denied. However, in spite of the various measures taken bythe Government and the judiciary itself, it is a matter of seriousconcern that the pendency or arrears of cases has been increasingsteadily over the years bringing the judicial system as a whole tonear stagnation. Further, the pendency of cases in the SupremeCourt is very reflective of the delays in the judicial system, thus, acause of extreme concern requiring immediate remedial steps.”2.5 The background note of the Department of Justice on the Bill forincreasing number of Supreme Court Judges presented before theStanding Committee stated:“The Chief Justice of India has informed that there were 41,078cases pending in the Supreme Court as on 01.03.2007 and theJudges feel over-burdened and have been working under acutework pressure. He has further stated that despite satisfactory highrate of disposal, pendency of cases in the Supreme Court hasconstantly been on the rise due to comparatively higher rate ofinstitution of cases. Pendency of cases in the courts could be14