Speedy and timely disposal of cases, with litigants getting justice without delay forms the core of a healthy justice delivery system. And to achieve the same, the Supreme Court of India has time and again pressed upon the need for improving judicial infrastructure.
In All India Judges Association vs Union of India, while highlighting the infrastructural needs, the Supreme Court had observed that “A sound infrastructure is the linchpin of a strong and stable judicial system. The responsibility for securing justice to the citizenry of our country rests upon the judiciary which makes it imperative upon the State to provide the judicial wing the requisite infrastructure commensurate with the constitutional obligation of the judiciary.”
As per the State of Judiciary Report on Infrastructure, Budgeting, Human Resources and ICT prepared in November 2023, by Centre for Research & Planning, Supreme Court of India, for the sanctioned strength of 25,081 judges in the district judiciary, there was a shortage of 4,250 courtrooms and 6,021 residential units. Notably, 42.9% of the total courtrooms had been under construction for more than 3 years.
Maharashtra had adequate courtrooms and residential units for judges in the district judiciary, whereas Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, and Tripura had the maximum shortage of courtrooms. Further, Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh each had a 61% shortage of residential accommodations for judicial officers. With respect to High Courts, the Andhra Pradesh and Gauhati High Courts had a shortage of 38% and 30% of courtrooms.
The report further mentioned that only 13.1% of District Court complexes had a childcare room or facility while 50% of District Court complexes had ramps for PwDs. Also, 40% of District Court complexes had designated parking spots for PwDs while only 30.4% of District Court complexes had separate washrooms for PwDs, and other infrastructural support such as tactile paving, and wheelchairs being available in less than 30% of court complexes.
Further, the report revealed, only 15.9% of District Court complexes had Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centres. Notably, 35.7% of District Court complexes had functional CCTV surveillance facilities.
Public Health and Sanitation facilities in Courts
As far as Public Health and Sanitation facilities was concerned, the report revealed, 88% of District Court complexes in India have toilets for males while 80% of District Court complexes had separate ladies’ toilets. However, only 6.7% of toilets had a facility for sanitary napkin vending machines and are female-friendly.
Vacancy of Judges
The report revealed as against the total sanctioned strength of judges, there was a shortage of 5,300 judges in district judiciary, with maximum vacancy in the States of Uttar Pradesh (1,204) and Bihar (460). Out of these 5300 vacancies, 1,788 vacancies (21%) existed in District Judge Cadre against the sanctioned strength of 8,387 District Judges while 3,512 vacancies (21%) were in the Civil Judge Cadre against the sanctioned strength of 16,694 Civil Judges. The date highlights the need for regular recruitment of judges. In the High Courts, there exists a vacancy of 347 judges as against the sanctioned strength of 1,114 judges, mentioned the report.
Women in Judiciary
As per the November 2023 report of Supreme Court, women constituted 36.3% of the working strength of district judiciary. Notably, in 14 out of the 16 States examined for the report, over 50% of selected candidates in the last Civil Judge (Junior Division) recruitment exam were women. In the High Courts and Supreme Court, women constituted 13.4% and 9.3% of judges respectively.
Video Conferencing Facilities
In Phase-I of the e-Courts project, the report revealed, facility of video conferencing was made available in 493 court complexes and 347 jails. In Phase-II of the project, these figures rose to 3,240 court complexes and 1,272 jails. 86.7% of the district courtrooms have a working LAN/internet connection, and 69% have efficient bandwidth. However, as per data submitted by judicial officers on iJuris, only 57.4% of courtrooms in the district judiciary have VC-enabled computers on the judge’s dais.
Support Staff in the District Judiciary
In the district judiciary, the vacancy of support staff is 27% (74,524) as against the total vacancy of 21% of judicial officers. This highlights the need to regularly recruit staff, alongside the recruitment of judicial officers. To facilitate this, Bihar and Assam have
prescribed time frames in their service rules to conduct the recruitment of court staff.
e-filing and Digitisation of Case Records
As on July 31, 2023, mentioned the report, a significant 18,36,627 cases had been e-filed of which 11,88,842 (65%) were e-filed in District Courts. However, as per data submitted by judicial officers on iJuris, only 48.6% of District Court complexes had a functional e-filing facility.
As per the e-Committee, Supreme Court of India, as of November 22, 2022, a total of 12,42,93,90,000 (12 billion) pages, primarily consisting of legacy records (disposed cases), require digital preservation. The financial outlay specified for the digitization of case records in Phase-III of the e-Courts project is Rs 2,038.4 crore (28.27 % of the total project outlay of 7,210 crore).
