With millions of already pending cases and thousands more being added every year, the whole issue has become too big to be addressed in one go. To address the issue of pending cases, the Supreme Court has been actively advocating for increasing the number of judges in the High Courts and improving their infrastructure. In addition, various measures have been taken to facilitate online filing, e-filing, and virtual hearings to expedite the disposal of cases. However, the problem of pending cases in the High Courts of India is a complex issue, and it requires sustained efforts from all stakeholders to resolve it. However, taking initiative on its own, the Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, has issued a set of directives to address the backlog of pending cases in the High Court. Final hearing matters that are over 10 years old will be listed exclusively on Tuesdays and Thursdays as “Target Cases,” and any cases older than 20 years will remain on the roster bench until final disposal. Urgent matters will be heard by the roster benches on these days, subject to mention. A fast-track single bench will be constituted periodically in both wings of the High Court to hear the target cases, and the CIS calendar is strictly followed. The directives are expected to help reduce the backlog of pending cases, which has already been reduced considerably in the past three years, as per the official data. Moreover, much attention is being paid to conducting e-Lok Adalats and virtual court hearings by the subordinate judiciary, with a total of 716240 hearings conducted by the J&K and Ladakh High Court and District Courts as of January 31, 2023. Of these, 257708 hearings were conducted by the High Court and 458532 by the District Courts in these Union Territories. All these initiatives are much appreciated and will provide major relief to the litigants. A big step forward in resolving the pending cases issue. Well-intended, out-of-the-box solutions always work.
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