If a judge clears 50 cases, 100 more are filed: Kiren Rijiju on pendency in courts

With the number of pending cases nearing the 5-crore mark, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday said if a judge disposes of 50 cases, 100 new litigations are filed as people are more aware now and approach courts to settle disputes.

Addressing a seminar on the functioning of the Armed Forces Tribunal in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Rijiju said the government is tapping technology to reduce pendency in courts.

Responding to a question during Parliament's Monsoon Session, the law minister had said that over 4.83 crore cases are pending in courts across the country.

While over 4 crore cases are pending in lower courts, the Supreme Court is burdened with a pendency of over 72,000 cases.

The minister said the proposed law on mediation will also help bring down the number of litigations in courts with a renewed focus on alternate dispute resolution mechanism.

Rijiju also felt that there should be "no comparison" between pendency of cases in India and other countries as "we have a different set of problems".

He said there are some countries that do not even have a population of 5 crore when the number of pending cases in India is nearing the 5-crore mark.

He assured the law ministry is willing to offer any help to the Armed Forces Tribunal in quick delivery of justice.