J&K has over 21 Judges per million people: India Justice Report

Over 39% cases pending for more than five years in HC

Bivek Mathur

JAMMU, Apr 20: Jammu and Kashmir has over 21 Judges per million people, significantly better than the national average of 15.9 but still far below the recommended 50 Judges per million people, according to the India Justice Report (IJR) released by Tata Trusts in collaboration with various civil society organizations.
The report cites the 1987 Law Commission recommendation of 50 Judges per million people, a standard yet to be met by any State or Union Territory.

Follow the Daily Excelsior channel on WhatsApp  

As per the report, nationally, there are 14 Judges per million people in the subordinate courts and 1.9 in the High Courts, thus total 15.9 Judges available against the recommended strength (50) of judges.
In Jammu and Kashmir, 20.2 Judges are available in the sub-ordinate courts and 0.9 judges in the High Court, thus a total of 21.2 Judges per million people, the report said.
In the neighbouring UT of Ladakh, 36.2 Judges are available in the subordinate courts and 0.9 Judges in the High Court, thus a total of 37.1 Judges per million people.
In Himachal Pradesh, the number is 21.2 in the sub-ordinate courts, 0.6 in the High Court, and hence a total of 21.8 Judges per million people.
In Punjab, the number is 23.2 Judges in the sub-ordinate courts, 1.2 in the HC and hence, a total of 24.4 million Judges per million people.
As per the report, the data for High Courts has been compiled and analysed up to February 1, 2025 and for subordinate courts, it has been analysed up to January 30, 2025.
As far as pendency in the subordinate courts is concerned, the report said until January 2025, in 22 out of the 25 States ranked, cases pending in subordinate courts for above three years amount to over 25% of the total pending cases.
In 11 States/UTs, such cases amount to over 45% with Bihar recording 71% of such cases, the highest in the country, the report said.
In the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, 36.4% cases are pending for over three years and in Ladakh, 20.9% cases are pending for the same period.
In Punjab, 23.9% cases are pending for over three years and in Himachal Pradesh, 21.8 % cases are pending for the same period.
Similarly, the report said, in 16 States/UTs ranked, cases pending in subordinate courts for above 5 years have increased in last two years.
In 10 States, such cases amount to over 25% of the pending cases, the report said. The report didn’t share the figures for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The IJR report further said that the pendency levels in the High Courts are worse than in subordinate courts.
Across all 25 High Courts ranked, the share of cases pending for more than five years stands at 51%, the report said.
While Tripura, Sikkim and Meghalaya fare the best on this metric, the worse are the High Courts of Allahabad and Punjab & Haryana, where over 60% cases are pending for more than five years, the report said.
In Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, over 60.8% cases are pending for 0-5 years, and over 39% for more than five years with 22.8% cases pending for 10-20 years, and 16.3% for over 20 years, the report added.
Regarding the strength of judges in the High Courts, the report said between 2016-17 and 2025, the overall sanctioned strength of Judges fell from 1,136 to 1,122.
The UT of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, however, increased their strength by 8, Guwahati and Odisha by 6 each and Himachal Pradesh by 4. 0
Over the same period, vacancies rose in four high courts- Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh, the report said.
In 2025, 16 out of 25 High Courts had one in four Judges missing, it said.
In five High Courts-Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab & Haryana, Odisha, and Allahabad-vacancies exceeded 40 per cent, with Allahabad touching 51 per cent, the report further said.
Only Meghalaya, Sikkim and Tripura could boast a full complement of Judges. In the last three years (2022), it said.

The post J&K has over 21 Judges per million people: India Justice Report appeared first on Daily Excelsior.

News