51K cases pending in Chandigarh District Courts

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 16

With the functioning of the courts affected due to the outbreak of Covid-19 across the country, the number of pending cases in the Chandigarh District Courts stands at 51,101.

As per the latest data available on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) on July 13, out of the total pending cases, the number of the criminal cases is 32,194 and the number of civil cases is 18,907. Approximately 62 per cent —31,787 — of the pending cases were filed in the past one year. Around 15,694 (about 30 per cent) cases were filed in the past one to three years, 2,710 cases are between 3 and 5 years old, 841 cases were filed between 5 and 10 years and there are only 64 cases that fall in the category of 10 to 20 years old.

The number of the appeal cases is 3,537 and the application cases are 4,406. The cases pending at the execution level are 3,796.

The data also revealed 1,570 cases were instituted last month while 167 were disposed. Though the judicial authorities did take a number of steps to reduce the pendency in the District Courts, the restrictive functioning due to Covid for the past three months will further increase the number pending cases.

NK Nanda, president of the District Bar Association, Chandigarh, said the lockdown would increase the pendency of cases. He said keeping in view the problems of the lawyers and the litigants, the functioning of the courts should be started in a phased manner.

Advocate Pankaj Chandgothia said there would be a spike in the number of cases once the court allows filing of all types of cases.