Consultation Paper on the Supreme Court’s Burgeoning Backlog
Empirically assessing the functioning and accessibility of the Supreme Court in India
Summary: The consultation paper initiates a conversation on the proposed reform of the functioning of the Supreme Court by looking at empirical data and studies on the subject.
The Supreme Court of India is intended to be Constitutional Court for India tasked with, inter alia, the interpretation of the Constitution, protecting fundamental rights of citizens, and adjudication of Centre-State and inter-State disputes. It is also the apex appellate Court exercising special leave jurisdiction over all the courts in India.
However, there is a growing sense that the Supreme Court’s appellate workload has expanded to such proportions that it is no longer able to fulfill its constitutional functions effectively. Despite having a working strength of between 25-30 judges, the backlog of cases has been on a steady increase over the last decade and currently stands at 61,500 as per latest figures put out by the Court. This can also be attributed to the record number of new cases being filed in each year, with 2014 seeing 71500 new cases being filed. Unless measures are taken, the Supreme Court’s backlog could become unmanageable and delays ever more intractable.
In addition, the issue of accessibility is also one which has been raised by litigants and lawyers across the country. Located in Delhi, approaching the Supreme Court as a remedy seems to be deterring many litigants across the country as seen in the skew in the origin of cases from the High Courts geographically closest to the Supreme Court.
Keeping in view these problems, we have tried to empirically assess the functioning of the Supreme Court to see if the data bears out the issues that have been raised.
This Consultation paper, we hope, is the start of a larger process of judicial reform that will examine the Supreme Court’s functioning and result in the necessary changes that will allow the Supreme Court to carry out its intended constitutional role in a coherent manner and is accessible to litigants across the country.
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About the Authors
Alok Prasanna Kumar is Co-Founder and Lead, Vidhi Karnataka. His areas of research include judicial reforms, Constitutional law, urban development, and law and technology. He graduated with a B.A. LL.B. (Hons) from the NALSAR University in 2008 and obtained the BCL from the University of Oxford in 2009. He writes a monthly column for the Economic and Political Weekly and has published in the Indian Journal of Constitutional Law and National Law School of India Review apart from media outlets such as The Hindu, Indian Express, Scroll, Quint and Caravan. He has practiced in the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court from the chambers of Mr Mohan Parasaran, and currently also co-hosts the Ganatantra podcast on IVM Podcasts.
Ameen was a Senior Resident Fellow at Vidhi, and led the Centre for Applied Law and Technology Research (ALTR). His interest and research focus lies in AI ethics, and the governance of AI. Within ALTR, he has been leading the team's collaborative research on data trusts, and artificial intelligence. Ameen has also worked on the intersection of technology and the justice system, as a senior fellow working on the JALDI mission's engagement with the Supreme Court of India's AI and E-Courts' committees. Ameen has a formal educational background in social research methods and evidence-based policy. He completed his master’s programme from the Institute of Education (University College London), focusing on the use of research evidence in policy processes, and was awarded an MSc. with an overall distinction. Before this, he completed his undergraduate legal studies from the W.B. National University of Juridical Sciences [B.A. LL.B. (Hons.)] in 2012. Prior to Vidhi, Ameen worked at J. Sagar Associates, in the firm’s regulatory and policy team. He has practised in the Supreme Court of India, the Delhi High Court, and numerous tribunals.
