New Delhi, September 19: Recently while addressing a gathering in the national capital, President Ram Nath Kovind said, "Indian legal system is marked by long delays. There is a backlog of 3.3 crore cases in various courts." According to the latest government data, of the total pending cases (2.5 crore), over 22 lakh are decade-old and are languishing in subordinate courts. SC Asks State Governments to Reduce Pending Cases, Check List of High Courts With Most Number of Cases Pending.

As per a report on the Tribune, the pending cases in the subordinate courts account for 8.29 per cent of the total pending cases. Out of the 22,90,364 cases pending in the lower courts for 10 years or more, 5,97,595 (5.97 lakh) are civil and 16,92,769 (16.92 lakh) criminal.

National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) is a part of the ongoing e-Courts Integrated Mission Mode Project. It works as a tool to manage, identify and reduce pendency of cases. Recently the Supreme Court asked State Governments and concerned authorities to consider "exploring an issue of plea bargaining to accused and other respective persons to ensure that pendency of cases is reduced." The Supreme Court's order is a step in the direction of reducing lakhs of cases which are pending in the courts for years.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 19, 2018 11:48 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).