Over three crore cases are pendingin various courts across the country and this "unacceptablelevel" can be reduced by appointment of more judges andmodernisation, Law Minister Ashwani Kumar said today.
"Without doubt, it is true that a large number of casesare pending in courts. The number is over three crore. This isa matter of deep concern. This situation needs to beaddressed. The unacceptable level should be reduced," he saidin the Lok Sabha during Question Hour.
Kumar admitted that the present process of appointment ofjudges has not proved to be adequate and there was a need torelook and revisit the entire judicial system.
He claimed that several steps were being taken to dealwith this challenge, including expediting the appointment ofjudges, establishment of e-courts, computerisation of courtrecords, fast track courts and other administrativemechanisms.
The minister said all the high courts and about 11,000lower courts have been computerised.
"A silver lining has been that the Supreme Court hasdisposed of a large number of cases," Kumar said, adding that66,569 cases were pending in the apex court as on January 31,2013. Of these, 21,862 matters are up to one year old and arethus not arrears.
He said the government does not have a say in appointmentof Supreme Court and the High Court judges as the ChiefJustice of India and the Chief Justice of the concerned HighCourt respectively decide on the matter.