Jammu: There are approximately 44,500 pending cases actively queued in the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, with a notable majority (about 67%) of these cases pending for more than a year.
As per National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) and official court data 29,882 of the 44,508 pending cases, or 67.14 per cent, have been pending for more than one year. Of the total pendency, 34,807 are civil matters and 9,701 are criminal cases.
Among civil cases, 24,171, or 69.44 per cent, are more than one year old. In the criminal category, 5,711 of the 9,701 pending cases, or 58.87 per cent, have remained pending for over a year. As per court records, a case pending before the High Court since 1991 is the oldest matter before the institution. In the current calendar year, the High Court instituted 7,459 fresh cases, including 5,644 civil and 1,815 criminal matters. During the same period, it disposed of 6,035 cases, comprising 4,613 civil and 1,422 criminal matters.
The data further revealed that Writ petitions account for the largest share of pending litigation. The High Court has 21,960 pending writ petitions, including 21,731 civil writ petitions and 229 criminal writ petitions. The court also has 639 pending review petitions and 826 revision petitions, including 312 civil revisions and 514 criminal revisions.
At the Jammu Wing of the High Court, 28,230 cases are pending. Of these, 19,973 cases, or 70.75 per cent, are more than one year old. According to the data, 9,909 cases at the Srinagar Wing, or 60.87 per cent of the total pendency, are more than one year old.
The Jammu Wing has 21,779 pending civil cases, including 15,859 that are over one year old. It also has 6,451 pending criminal cases, of which 4,114 have been pending for more than a year. The oldest pending matters at the Jammu Wing date back to 1996, with four such cases still awaiting disposal, while the oldest pending case at the Srinagar Wing dates back to 1991.
The Jammu Wing received 4,068 fresh cases this year, including 3,057 civil and 1,011 criminal matters. It disposed of 3,711 cases, comprising 2,936 civil and 775 criminal matters. Pending writ petitions at the Jammu Wing stand at 13,189, including 13,187 civil writ petitions and two criminal writ petitions. The wing also has 474 review petitions and 535 revision petitions pending.
As per data the Srinagar wing has a pendency of 16,278 cases, including 13,028 civil matters and 3,250 criminal cases. Among civil matters, 8,312 of the 13,028 pending cases have crossed the one-year mark. In the criminal category, 1,597 of the 3,250 pending cases are more than a year old.
The figures further reveal that this year, the Srinagar Wing instituted 3,391 cases, including 2,587 civil and 804 criminal matters. It disposed of 2,324 cases, comprising 1,677 civil and 647 criminal matters. The Srinagar Wing has 8,771 pending writ petitions, including 8,544 civil and 227 criminal writ petitions. It also has 165 review petitions and 291 revision petitions pending.
The data further shows that the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh ranks 21st among the country’s 25 high courts in terms of pending cases. Only the High Courts of Manipur (6232), Meghalaya (1991), Tripura (1599) and Sikkim (314) have lower pendency.
The Jammu and Kashmir High court has been under acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Kumar since June 1, after Justice Arun Palli was transferred following his elevation as a Supreme Court judge.
As per NJDG data the Allahabad High Court has the country’s highest pendency with 12,28,995 pending cases. The Andhra Pradesh High Court has 2,53,490 pending cases, while the Delhi High Court has 1,25,199 pending matters. In terms of cumulative case disposal, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has disposed of 4,00,701 cases, placing it 20th among the 25 High Courts. Allahabad has the highest number of disposed cases at 64,69,249, while the Sikkim High Court has the lowest with 3,243 disposed cases. The Andhra Pradesh High Court has disposed of 10,61,546 cases and the Delhi High Court 9,86,095 cases.
