India Justice Report 2022, Rising Cases Pendency and Judicial Vacancy in Indian Judicial System

India Justice Report: The India Justice Report ranks individual Indian states in relation to their capacity to deliver access to justice. India Justice Report 2022 is also important for UPSC Prelims Exam 2023 and UPSC Mains Exam (GS Paper 2- Social Justice in India and various associated issues).

India Justice Report 2022 in News

According to the India Justice Report 2022, as of January 2, 2023, approximately 50% of the cases in Indian High Courts have been unresolved for over five years.

• India Justice Report 2022 assesses the performance of states in terms of justice delivery.
• The 3^rd IJR also separately assesses the capacity of the 25 State Human Rights Commissions in the country.

India Justice Report 2022 Findings

According to the India Justice Report (IJR) 2022, the state of Karnataka has achieved the top rank, in terms of justice delivery, among the 18 large and mid-sized states with populations over one crore.

• The state of Tamil Nadu has secured the second position in the rankings, while Telangana has secured the third position.
• The State of Gujarat has got the fourth position and Andhra Pradesh is at slot five as per the report which was released on April 4 in New Delhi.
• On the other hand, the state of Uttar Pradesh has been ranked at 18, which is the lowest among the states considered in the report.

3^rd India Justice Report on Pendency of Cases

According to the India Justice Report 2022, more than 63% of cases were pending for over five years in the Allahabad High Court (Uttar Pradesh) and Calcutta High Court (West Bengal and A&N Islands).

• On the other hand, the High Courts in north-eastern India such as Tripura, Sikkim, and Meghalaya had less than 10% of cases pending for over five years.
• The total count of active cases across different High Courts has escalated from over 41 lakh in 2014 to 53 lakh in 2022.

Judicial Vacancy as per India Justice Report 2022

The percentage of vacancies varied, ranging from a minimum of 16% in Jharkhand to a maximum of 48% in Rajasthan, indicating an insufficient number of judges available.

• In Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, more than 40% of High Court judge positions remained vacant as of December 2022.
• In total, the judicial vacancy rate in Indian High Courts stood at 29.8%, while High Court staff vacancies were at 25.6%.

Case Pendency/High Court Judge in India

While Analysing data on the average number of cases pending per High Court judge in 2017 and 2022, it was found that-

• In Rajasthan, the combination of an extremely high judge vacancy rate and poor clearance rate resulted in each High Court judge having around 24,000 pending cases by 2022.
• This was a significant increase from just over 7,000 pending cases per judge in 2017.

Clearance Rate in Indian High Courts

In India, out of every 100 cases filed in 2022, only 95 were resolved that same year, resulting in a clearance rate of 95%, while the remaining 5% were added to the backlog. However, the clearance rate was lower during the pandemic years, with 83% in 2021 and 77% in 2020.

• Last year, the Rajasthan High Court had the lowest clearance rate among all High Courts, with only 65% of cases being resolved in 2022.
• Among major states, the Madras High Court was exceptional, with a clearance rate of over 90% even during the pandemic years, which improved to 107% in 2022.

• High Courts in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh, which had a judge vacancy rate of over 40%, had clearance rates of around 80% or less.
• In contrast, even though Tripura and Manipur had relatively high vacancy rates (>40%), their clearance rates were over 100%, likely due to a lower influx of fresh cases.

India Justice Report (IJR)

The India Justice Report ranks individual Indian states in relation to their capacity to deliver access to justice.

• Background: The India Justice Report (IJR) was initiated by Tata Trusts in 2019, and this is the third edition.
  • In 2017, the Trusts brought together a group of sectoral experts to develop a report that would measure the structural capacity of state-based instrumentalities of the justice system against their own declared mandates.
  • This was done with a view to pinpoint areas that lend themselves to immediate solutions.
  • The first ever ranking was published in November 2019.
• Mandate: The India Justice Report (IJR) aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of the state of justice delivery in India and to identify areas where improvement is needed.
• Reporting Bodies: The Tata Trust foundation’s partners include the Centre for Social Justice, Common Cause, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, DAKSH, TISS-Prayas, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy and How India Lives, IJR’s data partner.
• Pillars: India Justice report is based on overall data of 4 pillars of justice delivery namely-
  • Police,
  • Judiciary,
  • Prisons, and
  • Legal Aid.

India Justice Report Ranking Method

The India Justice report is based on extensive data analysis and is designed to be a tool for policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders to identify areas where reform is needed to improve justice delivery in India.

• The India Justice Report ranking is based on quantitative measurements of budgets, human resources, infrastructure, workload, diversity across police, judiciary, prisons and legal aid in-
  • 18 large and medium sized states (population of over 1 crore) and
  • seven small states.
• Data for eight unranked Union Territories (UTs) and three states is also provided.

India Justice Report Significance

Based on the latest official statistics, from authoritative government sources, the report brings together otherwise siloed data on the four pillars of Justice delivery namely Police, Judiciary, Prisons, and Legal Aid.

• Each pillar was analysed through the prism of budgets, human resources, workload, diversity, infrastructure, and trends against the state’s own declared standards and benchmarks.
• The India Justice Report provides valuable insights into the functioning of the justice system, which can be used by policymakers, judges, lawyers, civil society organizations, and citizens.
• India Justice Report can also help in identifying the areas that need improvement and guide the efforts to reform the justice system.

The Editorial Analysis- In Pursuit of Social Justice

The Editorial Analysis- In Pursuit of Social Justice

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