Himachal High Court clears nearly 90% cases in 2025 despite judge shortage

The Himachal Pradesh High Court disposed of nearly 90 per cent of the cases instituted before it in 2025, despite functioning with five judges short of its sanctioned strength. The notable performance followed an intensified judicial push for faster justice, with priority hearings for vulnerable groups and structural reforms aimed at pruning long-pending litigation.

Official figures show that the High Court had a pendency of 93,942 cases as on January 1, 2025. During the year, 81,092 fresh cases were filed, while 72,981 cases were disposed of, taking the pendency to 1,02,053 cases by year-end. The case clearance rate stood at 89.99 per cent, even though the court worked with 12 judges against a sanctioned strength of 17, including the Chief Justice.

Available information suggests that Chief Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia ensured priority was accorded to cases involving convicts lodged in jails, sexual harassment, crimes against women, juveniles and senior citizens. Matters in which proceedings before subordinate courts had been stayed were also taken up on priority by treating them as “Expedited cases”, to prevent prolonged stagnation of trials.

In a decisive move to tackle long-pending matters, the High Court also declared 12 Saturdays as working days during the calendar year 2026. On these days, only the oldest pending hearing matters will be listed, with the specific objective of reducing legacy pendency.

The impact of the reform drive was even more pronounced in the district judiciary, which recorded a case clearance rate of 106.23 per cent. As on January 1, 2025, pendency in district courts stood at around 6.31 lakh cases. During the year, 8,02,478 cases were instituted, while 8,52,488 cases were disposed of, bringing pendency down to approximately 5.81 lakh cases.

Disposal norms were framed for judicial officers under the directions of Chief Justice Sandhawalia, with monthly and quarterly targets fixed. The High Court said the progress was being monitored under a strict action plan, in line with the Supreme Court’s directions to ensure justice that is both timely and sensitive.

On the administrative side, sustained efforts were made to strengthen judicial capacity. By December 31, 2025, three vacant posts of Additional District and Sessions Judges and 19 posts of Civil Judges were filled. In addition, four new posts of Additional District and Sessions Judges and five Civil Judge posts were created at different locations. The State Government has also been urged to create three more courts of Additional District and Sessions Judges and 34 courts of Civil Judges on a priority basis.

Judicial infrastructure saw steady expansion as well. Chief Justice Sandhawalia laid the foundation stone of the Judicial Court Complex at Sarahan in Sirmaur district on March 4, 2025. The Judicial Court Complex at Arki in Solan district was inaugurated on May 27, 2025, while the residential colony for judicial officers at Nalagarh was inaugurated on July 12, 2025.

Further strengthening the justice delivery system, three newly created courts of Additional District and Sessions Judges at Nurpur, Amb and Bilaspur were made functional with requisite infrastructure and were inaugurated on January 1 and January 7, 2026, underscoring the High Court’s continued focus on reducing pendency through both speed and capacity building.