Justice on hold: India’s courts are clogged (opens original article in a new tab)

India's courts face severe case backlogs, with over 5 crore pending cases and structural issues like judge shortages and procedural delays hindering timely justice.

• India's courts have over 5 crore pending cases, with 86,700 in the Supreme Court, 63.3 lakh in High Courts, and 4.6 crore in district courts.
• Criminal cases are resolved faster than civil cases, with only 38.7% of civil cases in district courts resolved within a year.
• The judiciary operates at 79% capacity due to 5,665 vacant judge positions, far below the recommended judge-to-population ratio.