62 thousand cases pending for 30 years; All cases in the High Courts!. New Delhi: Around 62,000 cases are pending in various High Courts of the country for more than 30 years. It has been revealed that 3 of these cases are from 1952. According to official figures, there are four cases pending in the High Court since 1954 and nine since 1955. Of the three cases pending since 1952, two are in the Calcutta High Court and one in the Madras High Court.

Addressing the National Conference of District Judiciaries earlier this week, President Draupadi Murmu called for a change in the ‘date culture’ in the judiciary. She said that long pending cases and backlog were major challenges before the judiciary. He also appealed to all concerned to find a solution to this problem on priority. Currently, a total of 58.59 lakh cases of 42.64 lakh civil and 15.94 lakh criminal nature are pending in the High Courts. According to data from the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), 2.45 lakh cases pending in high courts are 20 to 30 years old. Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal had urged Indian courts to break the ‘tarikh pe tarikh culture’. Citing cases on the ‘NJDG’, he said that 25 to 30 per cent of cases where the involved parties are not present or are not interested in proceeding with the case can be closed at once. He also informed that some High Courts have taken effective steps in this regard. More than five crore cases are pending in various courts including District Courts, High Courts and Supreme Court.